The summer I turned binge-y

On the eve of Netflix shoveling a fourish-hour chunk of Stranger Things onto Christmas Day, we visit the past, present, and future of binge-dropped television shows. 


The strategy of releasing an entire season at the same time has been key to taking Netflix from a little startup that used to lend us DVDs in the mail … to a company so big and powerful, it is maybe going to buy Warner Brothers and own Bugs Bunny and Tony Soprano and the Harry Potter movies.


But even Netflix may be flirting with some slightly less binge-y models of content release. Are we entering … the end of the binge drop?


On our latest: what data tells us about binge watching. Was it the greatest business decision, and who does binge watching really benefit? 


Here’s some of the research. 


Pre-order the Planet Money book and get a free gift. / Subscribe to Planet Money+


Listen free: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.


Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.


This episode was produced by Willa Rubin and edited by Meg Cramer. It was fact-checked by Dania Suleman and engineered by Maggie Luthar. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy