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HBO needs to get with the times
- Thread starter Vaelic
- Start date
HBO is a cable network first and foremost
Binging stuff works for Netflix but HBO wants appointment television
Binging stuff works for Netflix but HBO wants appointment television
I prefer the wait a week method.
You can always just wait until the season is done and then binge watch it in the Netflix model.
I thought this was going to be about their technology - I want to be able to just pay subscription to HBO for online streaming but I can't in Canada. Have to buy through a shitty offering called CraveTV.
EDIT - Reasons why I prefer wait a week method:
1) Don't have time to binge watch too much TV.
2) Discussions with friends with live TV watching.
3) Increases anticipation for the next episode which makes things like cliff hangers so much more effective.
You can always just wait until the season is done and then binge watch it in the Netflix model.
I thought this was going to be about their technology - I want to be able to just pay subscription to HBO for online streaming but I can't in Canada. Have to buy through a shitty offering called CraveTV.
EDIT - Reasons why I prefer wait a week method:
1) Don't have time to binge watch too much TV.
2) Discussions with friends with live TV watching.
3) Increases anticipation for the next episode which makes things like cliff hangers so much more effective.
No, I don't see them ever adopting the Netflix model. They want you to talk about each episode each week. Game of Thrones is super popular because it allows for "water cooler moments." That wouldn't work if everything was just released at once. They want your attention for months, not a few days.
OP
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Yeah and then you watch it all at once and never think about it again until the next season drops.
It's important for the medium IMO to still have weekly event series. Everyone stays on the same page in a way that can't happen with giant season drops.
It's not just HBO. The week-to-week stuff is an awful way to tell a story, especially as tv shows have become more cinematic. It hurts the overall impact of the show IMO.
For example, my girlfriend watched Big Little Lies week-to-week and thought it was boring. I waited and binged watched it all over two days and loved it. I know if I had it spread out over 8 weeks that I too would have enjoyed infinitely less
I was just thinking about this, how week to week helps with shows. Insecure is back next weekend and that always burn up the timeline. I don't think it would be the same if it was dropped all at once
Netflix also does weekly release shows do they not? I could have sworn I saw one of the releases on Netflix with a 'Weekly Episodes' or 'New Episodes' or something
it depends on the show whether the release schedule is better or not
Like GLOW works for a binge, but stuff like WestWorld kinda wouldn't
Those are mostly talk shows
With time and reflection I have come to the conclusion binge watching is disposable and without time to ruminate on each episode and let it settle I quickly forget it leading to eight to sixteen hours wasted. Just my opinion.
The vast majority of HBO's subscribers come through tv packages.
Like it isn't even close. It's a tv network first and foremost. Just saying "get with the times" doesn't make sense when their primary audience and source of income is television.
HBO shows are good enough that they warrant the week wait. I like being excited on Sundays at 10 for Game of Thrones or Succession
I believe those are for their talk shows like Chelsea Handler.
I really would rather they didn't. Binge watching shows is fine and fun for some things, but a lot of the fun of a show like Game of Thrones is watching with friends, tuning in every week, talking about it at the water cooler. Binge watching shows is an isolating experience. Really the only kind of stuff I like to binge watch is niche, like anime.
No, but I did click it through Prime as it looked free and it charged me WITHOUT explicitly saying it was activating an additional subscription. You may want to double check that you didn't just sign up for a service. The way it looks in the app is as if you already get it included, but you don't. I think, unless it changed.
I prefer the Netflix model, but I do think there's a case to be made that HBO actually produces television that functions better on a weekly basis. Like, Sharp Objects is a weekly meditation right now.
Hulu throwing shit up weekly is the worst thing they do apart from two minute ads in twenty minute sitcoms. It's not a cable network, but it's got a weird hard-on to replicate the experience.
Hulu throwing shit up weekly is the worst thing they do apart from two minute ads in twenty minute sitcoms. It's not a cable network, but it's got a weird hard-on to replicate the experience.
Some would argue, myself included, the move to a cinematic 10 hour movie approach is hurting TV shows.
Certain shows work in either format but far to many go for the cinematic approach now
Game of Thrones is the most popular show in the world because each episode is released on a weekly basis, allowing for global discussion, speculation, and anticipation for what's next. No Netflix show comes close in terms of creating a global, highly excited audience feverishly speculating about each upcoming development. The all-at-once release model was a nice experiment but it's on its way out the door. Even Netflix isn't always doing it with every show anymore.
I'm with you there...dumping the whole season kind of ruins the narrative anticipation for me.
And the fun of trying to guess what happens next. Week to week "Oh shit" moments have more impact.
I think you get some shows from HBO, just not the current ones. Like I have Sopranos and the Wire, but not GoT
Blowing my mind a bit that some of you are arguing against choice here. If they dropped it all at once, you wouldn't be forced to watch it immediately, but I'm forced to wait months just to finish something I'd massively prefer to consume at my leisure.
My point was his claim that they needed to "get with the times" and only Netflix is actually like that. I hate that Hulu is weekly, I want to binge Castle Rock not wait, but to claim that HBO is the only one living in the past is just wrong.
No binge watching needs to go away. Shows can't become phenomenons anymore. Stranger Things comes out and 48 hours later it's gone. And you never think about it or remember specific episodes. You just remember that you spent a whole day watching the whole thing and vaguely remember the plot.
Breaking Bad, Sorpranos, Game of Thrones, etc. you actually have build up, theories, discussion. And then everyone sits down as one and watches together, it's great.
I liked the Netflix model at first when it was just average shows like Daredevil and such, it's just something to get through. But if GoT or BB had all been dumped all at once they would have lost so much of their impact. And who knows if we'll see shows like that anymore because people are impatient now and just want to get through a show instead of experiencing it.
Breaking Bad, Sorpranos, Game of Thrones, etc. you actually have build up, theories, discussion. And then everyone sits down as one and watches together, it's great.
I liked the Netflix model at first when it was just average shows like Daredevil and such, it's just something to get through. But if GoT or BB had all been dumped all at once they would have lost so much of their impact. And who knows if we'll see shows like that anymore because people are impatient now and just want to get through a show instead of experiencing it.
Nah weekly format is so ooo much better. Better for discussion, longevity, and it sticks with you more. I've binged Netflix shows before and couldn't honestly tell you many names or much of what happened, despite me paying attention.
It's not about you. It's about business strategy. And HBO obviously has a good business model with the Monday morning watercooler crowd.
Unless something changes, you get a lot of stuff from their back catalogue of shows, but you don't get the movie selection, current shows, etc. without paying for an add-on.
Westworld works fine binged. Some even prefer it that way. But the experience of watching Westworld weekly, speculating on what certain things mean and where the show is going overall is a big part of what made it successful out of the gate, to the point the writers are now making an explicit effort to troll fam forums and keep people on their toes.
You can totally watch it collected though. I watched S1 after it finished airing and adored it.
HBO is consistently high quality. Netflix has gone steadily downhill. I'll take HBO 9 times out of 10