Two-part Releases: A Strategy for Survival Among Fierce Competition
Kim Seon-yeong, television critic
When Netflix released its first original series, House of Cards, directed by David Fincher, it made history. The show won nine nominations for the Emmy Awards and four for the Golden Globes — a first for any web series. Captivating fans around the world, it transformed Netflix from an online video service company into a global streaming powerhouse.
Netflix stunned the entire industry by releasing all episodes of House of Cards’s first season at once. This unprecedented maneuver turned out to be phenomenally successful, sparking a binge-watching trend among viewers. In her book, Writing the TV Drama Series: How to Succeed as a Professional Writer in TV (2005), award-winning television writer Pamela Douglas states that the new path forged by Netflix not only changed production schedules but also the relationship between producers and viewers. Forgoing the practice of luring viewers in with cliffhangers, storytelling became more solid, presenting an entire series in one gripping flow.
Recently, however, the tide seems to be turning for the so-called binge-release, despite it being regarded Netflix’s strong point. For some of its series, the media company has now adopted a “part-by-part” release approach. Viewers accustomed to binge-watching expressed their displeasure, calling the act “story splitting.” This dispute has been fanned by The Glory, the sensational Netflix original written by popular screenwriter Kim Eun-sook. Even before its release, the series aroused much excitement. Not only was it Kim’s first revenge drama, but it also starred top actor Song Hye-kyo. On the day of its release, Netflix opened itself up to criticism by releasing only half of the 16 episodes.
Those against part-by-part releases argue that it reduces the quality of storytelling. Releasing an entire season at once allows producers to focus on building a more solid and complete storyline; the method to split a season up interferes with continuity but is designed to maintain subscribers. Revenge dramas usually feature the hardships of the victims first, and their confrontations with the perpetrators follow later. The Glory is no exception to this rule, with the entire first half of the series showing only how Moon Dong-eun, performed by Song Hye-kyo, prepared for her revenge. This apparently added to the stress of viewers instead of providing the catharsis they wanted and deserved.
Similar reverse effects are found in Big Bet on Disney+ and TVING’s Island. Big Bet was one of the most popular original Korean dramas on Disney+, but its flow was abruptly interrupted towards the end of part one, subsequently losing any suspension built up to that point. Island failed to draw much interest in the beginning, and part one ended right when it most needed a twist. Both Big Bet and Island are large projects with huge production costs, top-class producers, and star-studded casts, and both have revealed that the part-by-part release was simply a business strategy used to hold onto subscribers.
Despite the negative reception, this split-season method is likely to become a major streaming service strategy as each platform fights for survival amid ever-intensifying competition. In the current climate, a detailed strategy is necessary to turn crisis into opportunity. Binge-watching may favor the immediate release of all episodes in a series, but it has also exposed a critical problem: an increasing number of series are deprived of the chance for fair evaluation. Subscribers who stop watching series mid-way after only a few episodes skew the public opinion with negative comments. The lifespan of streaming platform content is already very short, and it gets shorter still under such circumstances.
Releasing shows in parts may be the necessary solution to this problem. While there are viewers who consume shows quickly, there are also those who delve deeply into shows that best match their tastes. “Digging Momentum,” this year’s key phrase according to Trend Korea 2023 (2022), is a term that describes the latter audience. The part-by-part release can be effective when it is backed by a customized approach towards the most loyal viewers. Each episode needs to be completed with perfection, and cliffhangers, which many viewers love to interpret, should be well thought-out in advance. It should be remembered that although times have changed, the power of storytelling remains a most powerful tool.
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