Regardless of fan ire, Ampere feels the tactic works, flagging that shows with gaps of more than 30 months between seasons have achieved the highest engagement in the premiere month of the new season. Viewing of Stranger Thing rose by 300% in H2 2025 ahead of the release of its fifth and final season, Ampere said, with particularly strong viewing of Season 1 suggesting new viewers were discovering the series and existing fans were revisiting earlier episodes.
Oh man, that means this trend is here to stay. Intellectually I get the reason for the long delays but it sure does blow.
Viewing of Stranger Thing rose by 300% in H2 2025 ahead of the release of its fifth and final season, Ampere said, with particularly strong viewing of Season 1 suggesting new viewers were discovering the series and existing fans were revisiting earlier episodes.
I don’t think it is a trend. Stranger Things just happened to be a culturally significant thing.
A new show is probably not going to pull this off.
My thoughts exactly. Try this with any average show and the results will be different.
It makes sense that a long gap means more viewers have had the time to watch the prior seasons, and therefore might be ready to watch a new one upon release. I wouldn’t assume you’re getting more viewers overall, though, you’re just getting more of them watching at the same time.
2 years
- A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder
- Criminal Record
- For All Mankind
- Rivals
- The Boys
Just a random selection from the past and future week or two.
Other than The Boys, I have almost never heard of any of the other shows.
Yep, only other one is For All Mankind. But I’ve also not completed that show. Same with the boys
Same here and I just binged through The Boys after almost the whole season had finished airing. I started the first episode of the new season of For All Mankind and shut it off after 5 minutes because I don’t remember what’s happening and have zero interested in watching back through old seasons to remember and regain the hype I had for the show. It’s just easier to watch something else instead.
This study just feels like the industry trying to convince people that they like waiting years between seasons using survivorship bias.
Agreed. I pretty well just go for shows that are completed before starting something new.
I’ve been enjoying a lot of anime recently that’s already completed.
I think For all mankind is very good. Season finale airs this week and I can’t wait.
Sci-fi space drama that many people view as the prequel to the expanse, but it’s grounded in hard sci-fi, without any of the fantasy.
I’m surprised that’s the result of the analysis, with so many things vying for peoples attention I wouldn’t think that strategy would work.
I know I bounced off of the following due to long delays:
- Stranger Things
- The Boys
- Severance
- Invincible
- And probably more
Correlation does not mean causation though. Do the long gaps actually create bigger audiences, or are the shows with long gaps the most popular ones already? Also:
“Extended gaps may generate anticipation around flagship titles, but they can also encourage audiences to cancel subscriptions and return only when major shows are back on screen,” she added.
More expensive shows take longer to make. That’s why I appreciate the pace that fallout is on. Big show, without the big wait.
