Netflix has already made variations to its ‘always binge’ model by releasing one episode per week with the shows that weren’t its Originals. The Blacklist and The Patriot Act were released weekly because their new episodes were in the making. Some K dramas and shows with crazy hype like Money Heist and now Ozark were broken into two parts and released over a period of a couple of months. But now with Netflix ads, its model of releasing a whole season at once is ought to change.

Will Netflix ads affect bingeing?

According to The New York Times, Netflix is to bring ads by the end of 2022. The announcement comes following Netflix’s crashed shares, which fell by 20% as the streaming giant lost 2 lakh paid subscribers for various reasons. As a means to generate more revenue, Netflix wants to incorporate ads and also put regulations on password sharing. Advertisements on Netflix anyway sound annoying, but there’s more to it in terms of bingeing.

Them giving one ad for a whole season doesn’t make sense. They will have to release episodes in breaks to plug ads for each of them. Moreover, Netflix is also struggling to keep up with selling its Original content against classic content on its platform, contributing to the already grave revenue deficit. And because their Originals lack the popularity, they lack in the reach needed for the ads.

The only option then is to use its already popular Originals. But the shows that have guaranteed viewership like Bridgerton and Stranger Things, couldn’t be squeezed to their full potential because with a complete season released, the fanfare dies down. And by the time the buyer puts out an ad on a trending show, its viewership will have gone down, and the ad wouldn’t reap its full potential.

Social media spoilers are another reason for decreased viewership of the shows that have all the episodes on at once. Weighing in on all these factors, the probability of the end of Netflix’s binge era makes total sense. It is not known if the change will be gradual or immediate.

Can the end of the binge era work for subscribers?

Not being able to binge-watch can work for some. Viewers get a chance to watch other things while they wait for the next episode. They will also get to enjoy each episode properly before the next.

It also will save viewers from social media spoilers and create more speculation following each episode, which is eventually great for fan theories and the show’s popularity. On the other hand, it’s also easy to get deviated from the show or find it hard to recall thick plots after the gap.

Do you share our views? If so let us know in the comments. Meanwhile, watch Netflix while it’s still ad-free.