Watch Web Series. | Online | Free
Should you release episodes of web series weekly or all at once for the audience to view at their own pace?
“Imagine if books were always released one chapter per week, and were only briefly available to read at 8 p.m. on Thursday. And then someone flipped a switch, suddenly allowing people to enjoy an entire book, all at their own pace. That is the change we are bringing about. That is the future of television.”
- Netlix CEO Reed Hastings vocal about releasing all 13 episodes of the network's first original web series House of Cards tomorrow instead of the traditional TV model of weekly episode releases. (via bizjournals).
So, should you release episodes of web series weekly or all at once? Tell us what you think in the comment box below.
Add a Comment
Comment by sasketchshow on February 6, 2013 at 11:11pm I'm gonna go with somewhere in the middle. It's great to have more than one 'episode' up from the get-go so that people can get their 'fix'. It's just about impossible to have a weekly return audience on the internet. There's just too much out there.
Comment by Raineystorm Productions on February 2, 2013 at 11:37am Hmmmm.
I haven't been in this long but I agree with Walter to a degree.
Netflix already has an audience built in, in some ways. It's like saying Disney and people know it will have something they might like.
But those of us indie makers, doing things out of own pockets often with a non (entertainment) industry "day job have to scream and yell do cartwheels and almost beg people to even look at our stuff.
The Hastings model works if your a media mega corporation, but for the indie no budget maker therein lies the challenge. How to build an audience and keep it without having anything to keep them with.
I think most series makers being more artist than businesspeople, don't want to wait and work for success, they want their work to sell itself. Even as an artist I think that is a mistake. Your series, the story, the world is a product, one of...many of the same kind, you have to make it a long term goal to make your brand known and wanted. You can't treat web series as a fast food type of thing, tossing out things just because you enjoy filming, or making them. Otherwise you end up with a warehouse full of things nobody wants or knows about because you feel its more important for you to make than to get people to like what you make.
We plan to build an audience with smaller teaser, minisodes that take place in the world but aren't a part of the actual series story arch. No schedule just release as each gets done. Once we get a fanbase and a demand for the actual series, then we will make the entire story arch and release it maybe all at once.
Yes we know this could take years, but we feel it's worth the time sense we don't have the money.
But I have to agree, I personally like it when I come in later and the whole season or series is posted and I don't have to remember to come back next time.
Hmmm, it almost appears that the ADD theory of viewers may not be holding as much as it once did.
Comment by Walter Forsyth on February 2, 2013 at 5:00am If you had the marketing power of Netflix then sure. But if you have our marketing budget of $18.40 in Canadian Tire money and two interns chained to the office desk, then spreading out the release increases the chances of building an audience.
Comment by Rich Mbariket on February 1, 2013 at 10:27am
Comment by Rich Mbariket on February 1, 2013 at 10:26am
Comment by Chad Media on February 1, 2013 at 7:35am BIG mistake.
You simply cannot drive traffic or create anticipation for your project like that.
Comment by modelmotion on February 1, 2013 at 7:33am The ability to release videos over a period of time is not something you can ever take back. If you release everything at once it is a done deal and it just becomes a matter of the viewer consuming the content at will.
There are arguments on both sides, but for certain projects and certain audiences there is no substitute for a time scheduled release. For other audiences and other projects it probably does not matter.
Comment by Rich Mbariket on January 31, 2013 at 4:32pm
Comment by Eva Bodine on January 31, 2013 at 4:29pm I agree. If I have time, and I like the show, I'll keep watching. If I don't I'll come back to it later, or not at all.
© 2013 Created by Rich Mbariket.
You need to be a member of Web Series Network to add comments!
Click here to join!