For those of us who watch TV online, few irritations compare to the "five most recent episodes" rule. On Hulu and TV-network websites, only the last five episodes to air are typically available for internet streaming. Networks realize this is annoying to viewers, and they want to make binge-watching of current seasons easier. But there's a surprising source of resistance: Netflix, which would be happy to keep the binge-watching culture it spawned all to itself.
The question of current-season streaming came up again recently in connection with reports that Apple is in talks with Comcast to develop a cable-replacement set-top box. In a piece on the discussions, CNN's Brian Stelter reported that Apple was seeking "in-season stacking rights" for its possible internet TV service. The arrangement would allow Apple to stream complete current seasons of shows, Stelter said. These are the same kinds of deals networks have reportedly been seeking from the studios who own the rights to the shows they broadcast -- deals that would put an end to the "five most recent episodes" rule.
Networks would love to be able to stream any and all episodes they've already broadcast, since otherwise those shows just sit dormant. For broadcasters and most cable channels, making money is all about building momentum toward the latest episode -- that is, the episode they can show ads around. The ability to offer viewers the full season to date is the best way to get potential new viewers caught up. While "in-season stacking" wouldn't be that important for most comedies, it would be huge for serial dramas that build audiences by hooking them on what happens next.
The New Reruns
The studios that actually make and own the rights to shows have resisted in-season stacking because it would hurt their ability to repackage and resell their content for syndication. In the streaming-video era, syndication has come a long way from seven o'clock reruns on local affiliates. Netflix has transformed the very idea of a rerun, posting complete most recent seasons of shows just before new seasons air (for example, the Netflix release of Mad Men season six at the end of the month ahead of the mid-April premiere of season seven on AMC). Netflix apparently pays dearly to offer viewers such binge-able access -- up to $750,000 per episode, according to The Vulture.
If networks began offering in-season stacking, Netflix would lose much of the unique value it offers subscribers in the realm of reruns. That's why the company has made clear to studios it will cut its rates severely if they opt to make complete current seasons available to competitors. "If you're going to also offer that, it's not exclusive anymore, and the rate goes down," Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos recently told a entertainment industry gathering. Sarandos said Netflix, which plans to spend about $3 billion next year on content, isn't threatening to cut off its own deals if studios start offering in-season stacking.
"It's not that we won't do it," Sarandos said. "We just won't pay as much."
In other words, don't blame Netflix for the "five most recent episodes" limit -- at least not entirely. The irony is that access to the last five episodes -- or any streaming video at all -- would feel like a privilege if not for the expectations set by Netflix. Especially with its strategy of releasing entire seasons of its own shows at once, Netflix exposed the artifice of the timed rollout. Networks could put every episode online at once, too, instead of piecing them out one week at a time. The reasons they don't aren't technological. As usual, it's all about business.
