[JasK]

There is no doubt that there are some amazing shows on the major streaming services. Unfortunately there are far too many streaming services who is pricing quite frankly has started to become ridiculous. The pricing however is secondary to my primary issue and that is the length of time between seasons for most of these shows is beyond ridiculous. I completely understand budgetary constraints And other factors that go into that however I would prefer to see fewer series with longer episode runs and at least somewhat of a schedule or timeframe in which each of these series seasons return. Nobody wants to wait sometimes 2+ years to see the next season of their favorite TV shows. I believe this fact along with the number of services, the cost and the redundancy will ultimately serve to be the downfall of many streaming services. Streaming services have great advantages and that you can watch your show whenever you want and you don’t have to deal with commercials. Unfortunately in many ways streaming services have taken us backwards. I would almost prefer these shows that I like anyways to have longer seasons with scheduled return dates on network TV and deal with fast forwarding through commercials with a DVR. I hate commercials as much as the next person but honestly and I know a lot of people that agree with me I hate waiting the incredibly ridiculous length of time it takes for returning seasons of my favorite shows. Lastly because of the number of streaming services and the number of shows that they are trying to produce we see amazing shows come on for one season or two seasons and get dropped even with great viewership and ratings because you can’t do everything all the time.

 

[CTJon]

That is also happening with network shows. Just modern day media of all types

 

[B. Shoe]

There is no doubt that there are some amazing shows on the major streaming services. Unfortunately there are far too many streaming services who is pricing quite frankly has started to become ridiculous. The pricing however is secondary to my primary issue and that is the length of time between seasons for most of these shows is beyond ridiculous. I completely understand budgetary constraints And other factors that go into that however I would prefer to see fewer series with longer episode runs and at least somewhat of a schedule or timeframe in which each of these series seasons return. Nobody wants to wait sometimes 2+ years to see the next season of their favorite TV shows. I believe this fact along with the number of services, the cost and the redundancy will ultimately serve to be the downfall of many streaming services. Streaming services have great advantages and that you can watch your show whenever you want and you don’t have to deal with commercials. Unfortunately in many ways streaming services have taken us backwards. I would almost prefer these shows that I like anyways to have longer seasons with scheduled return dates on network TV and deal with fast forwarding through commercials with a DVR. I hate commercials as much as the next person but honestly and I know a lot of people that agree with me I hate waiting the incredibly ridiculous length of time it takes for returning seasons of my favorite shows. Lastly because of the number of streaming services and the number of shows that they are trying to produce we see amazing shows come on for one season or two seasons and get dropped even with great viewership and ratings because you can’t do everything all the time.

First off, welcome to the board and our forum! We always enjoy when someone's very first post is a really vague tangent. I kid, I kid.

Look, I don't disagree that the state of sometimes waiting a little longer for a show than you'd like isn't frustrating, but as @CTJon said, it's not just a streaming issue. Some of these more involved shows take more time to build sets, develop, etc. It's not like an 80s sitcom where they had sets built in a studio, everyone lived in Hollywood and railroaded through 22 episodes.

The nice thing is that when you get through one of these great programs and have to wait for the next season, someone's always coming out with another show to explore.

 

[the2130]

With streaming shows, at least they don't get canceled in mid-season as network shows do. And regarding pricing, you don't have to subscribe to all of these services all the time. It's all month-to month and you can easily cancel services to save money when you're not watching them. The streaming services have given us flexibility we didn't have in the past, a lot more shows to choose from, and ad-free programming for those willing to pay for it. I have a bunch of ad-free streaming services in addition to Youtube TV, and I'm spending less than DirecTV alone was costing. It's great.

 

[harsh]

Nobody wants to wait sometimes 2+ years to see the next season of their favorite TV shows.

Nobody wants to suffer the setbacks of pandemics and supply chain issues but that's what we're living with.

 

[wmb]

Nobody wants to suffer the setbacks of pandemics and supply chain issues but that's what we're living with.

I think this is more the gap between seasons, and maybe some of the earlier cancellations.

The season format is also in a state of flux. This isn’t really a pandemic issue, it started before the pandemic, but like many things, the pandemic sped up changes.

You had old school US big three network series model that dates to what, the 1950s?!? Something like 20ish episodes and rerun them. Everything starts the second week of September . Rinse and repeat. Streaming doesn’t need that restriction. But, heck, the mini series model dates to Roots in the 1970s.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[James Long]

Nobody wants to wait sometimes 2+ years to see the next season of their favorite TV shows.

Yep. I have been waiting for the next Dr Who episode ... and another full season would be nice. My wife is waiting for Sherlock Holmes. Both shows seem to take years off between seasons.

Fortunately with streamers you have the option of subscribing for a month when the show is finally released. No need to maintain or create a long term commitment. But, in general, I'd prefer the old school method of having a new season every year until a show runs its course. My wish has also not been granted,

 

[Bender The Lab]

Yep. I have been waiting for the next Dr Who episode ... and another full season would be nice.

It starts back up in November on Disney+ with 3 extra long episodes, then the new season in early 2024.

My wife is waiting for Sherlock Holmes. Both shows seem to take years off between seasons.

Sherlock is done, both main actors are rumored to hate each other and Cumberbatch is doing fine on his own, the Dr. Strange sequel made over a billion dollars.

 

[harsh]

This isn’t really a pandemic issue, it started before the pandemic, but like many things, the pandemic sped up changes.

The reduction in the number of episodes perhaps started earlier with "originals" from the premium movie plexes, cable channels and Netflix but the lag between seasons is more recent.

Until Y2K, a season was usually 24-26 episodes and they may not have had breaks even for the holiday season. Now the breaks happen all over the place and there's even a second season (perhaps because they know that some shows are clunkers).

Now as the masks are largely off, it remains to be seen whether the producers are keen on this new style of limited season/miniseries format with big gaps. I think they're making a major error in judgement if they think they can maintain momentum by squeezing out an octet of episodes every 18-24 months.

 

[pappasbike]

The pricing however is secondary to my primary issue and that is the length of time between seasons for most of these shows is beyond ridiculous.

I agree with this but my feeling is that these networks, which is really what streaming services actually are, wait until they get adequate feedback as to whether a production was worth the investment they put into it. Just like broadcast networks who have to wait because of dvr scheduling to accurately determine the ratings, a streaming network has to wait a longer amount of time to accurately gauge viewership.

I also have felt that there are only a few of them that are carrying enough shows that I want to see to justify the additional cost above my core tv service. If you give in to many of these networks you wind up paying as much or perhaps considerably more than you were when you decided to do some kind of cord cutting. Which really never happens, you’re still paying, multiple providers probably, you just have to decide what you’re willing to give up - total number of available shows, convenience, viewing schedule, or budget.

As for the length of time between new “seasons” of streaming network shows I’m ok with that because with the networks, including the broadcast ones, we pay for there are more than we can keep up with as it is. And we’re retired so we have more time than most but we do have a life away from our tv.

 

[harsh]

I agree with this but my feeling is that these networks, which is really what streaming services actually are, wait until they get adequate feedback as to whether a production was worth the investment they put into it.

Unlike broadcast or cable networks, the feedback for streaming services is substantially instantaneous. They know exactly how many subscribers have watched the trailers, added a series to their watchlist, have watched the show and whether they were skipping forward or threw in the towel part way through. No surveys need to be taken or habits painstakingly tracked.

 

[armophob]

My wish was for big money to step in and purchase all the streaming services and make a one monthly payment possible. Now that streaming services are clearing out older episodes and entire series for data storage costs, I am done making lists of series I want to watch one day. I will forget that they ever existed.

 

[harsh]

My wish was for big money to step in and purchase all the streaming services and make a one monthly payment possible.

Then you're right back to the old MVPD model where piecemeal selection tends to be horribly limited.

 

[David Ortiz]

There is no doubt that there are some amazing shows on the major streaming services. Unfortunately there are far too many streaming services who is pricing quite frankly has started to become ridiculous. The pricing however is secondary to my primary issue and that is the length of time between seasons for most of these shows is beyond ridiculous. I completely understand budgetary constraints And other factors that go into that however I would prefer to see fewer series with longer episode runs and at least somewhat of a schedule or timeframe in which each of these series seasons return. Nobody wants to wait sometimes 2+ years to see the next season of their favorite TV shows. I believe this fact along with the number of services, the cost and the redundancy will ultimately serve to be the downfall of many streaming services. Streaming services have great advantages and that you can watch your show whenever you want and you don’t have to deal with commercials. Unfortunately in many ways streaming services have taken us backwards. I would almost prefer these shows that I like anyways to have longer seasons with scheduled return dates on network TV and deal with fast forwarding through commercials with a DVR. I hate commercials as much as the next person but honestly and I know a lot of people that agree with me I hate waiting the incredibly ridiculous length of time it takes for returning seasons of my favorite shows. Lastly because of the number of streaming services and the number of shows that they are trying to produce we see amazing shows come on for one season or two seasons and get dropped even with great viewership and ratings because you can’t do everything all the time.

I'll take the quality of a shorter season over filler episodes that serve mainly to lengthen the season.

There's also enough to watch that I'm not idly waiting for a certain show to return.

 

[harsh]

I'll take the quality of a shorter season over filler episodes that serve mainly to lengthen the season.

If only that was the result. Many of the subsequent seasons and spin-offs have been half-hearted efforts at best.

A while back someone cited House of the Dragon as a successful encore to GoT. While it hasn't been canceled, I'm not sure I buy the idea that HotD is anywhere near the product that GoT was.

 

[b4pjoe]

If only that was the result. Many of the subsequent seasons and spin-offs have been half-hearted efforts at best.

A while back someone cited House of the Dragon as a successful encore to GoT. While it hasn't been canceled, I'm not sure I buy the idea that HotD is anywhere near the product that GoT was.

Very few TV series ever reach the viewership of GoT. That doesn't mean the ones that don't reach that level are not good.

 

[harsh]

That doesn't mean the ones that don't reach that level are not good.

It absolutely makes a difference when saying that the new content is comparable to the old content. They aren't.

 

[b4pjoe]

It absolutely makes a difference when saying that the new content is comparable to the old content. They aren't.

The “quality” of the content is based on a persons opinion of it. The person that compared House of the Dragon to GoT feels the two shows are comparable. It is not up to you to tell them they aren’t comparable.

 

[harsh]

It is not up to you to tell them they aren’t comparable.

The surveys do that for us to a large extent.

 

[b4pjoe]

The surveys do that for us to a large extent.