Netflix invented binge watching. Now he may be over it.

A hum Bloomberg report Netflix’s data report suggests that viewers are increasingly abandoning popular shows before their second season. The possible reasons aren’t hard to guess: Netflix often cancels shows, there’s a very long wait between seasons, and much of Netflix’s content is designed for algorithm rather than artistry.

But the data also shows a shift in how people consume entertainment. Netflix’s defining innovation—binge—was created for a time when streaming was competing with traditional television. Today, Netflix competes with TikTok, YouTube, Reels and various micro-drama apps. This change makes the Netflix model feel like an old relic from another era.

Binge helped Netflix win TV

When Netflix first released an entire season of “House of Cards.” February 2013, it was a revelation.
Ad-free, Internet-connected TV meant we could break free from the traditional routine of once-a-week shows punctuated by commercials. Instead, flawless shows meant that viewers could be entertained for hours, quickly forming a bond with their titles and characters that would otherwise take years to develop. Plus, you could watch them anytime — not just the day the network decided to air them, as is the case with linear TV.

This way of viewing made sense in a world where Netflix was still competing heavily with traditional TV like broadcast, cable and satellite TV. But Netflix won that race. Nielsen in June 2025 was announced that the television era reached a new milestone when the Netflix-style streaming format for the first time eclipsed broadcast and cable — a milestone that made it clear that Netflix’s original competition was no longer a threat.

Now Netflix’s competition isn’t the TV of old, but what the TV of today has become: video apps.

TikTok and YouTube are today’s threats

Thanks to the rise of TikTok, Reels, and other short-form video platforms, there’s no need to visit Netflix when you have a few hours to kill with mindless entertainment. There is an endless supply of free videos that you can turn to.

According to eMarketer analystsTikTok was already closing in on Netflix in terms of time spent in 2024, when US adults spent an average of 62.1 minutes per day streaming on Netflix and 58.4 minutes per day on TikTok. In 2024, the the Financial Times reported that, globally, TikTok users spend an average of 95 minutes per day on the app, the highest engagement rate among major social networks.

Then there’s YouTube, which offers a mix of short and longer form content. According to a report released this year by Digital iYouTube surpassed Netflix in average daily viewing for the first time, with 99.1 minutes per day in 2025 compared to Netflix’s 93.4 minutes.

These market reports use different methodologies and demographics, so they should be considered – but directionally, they show the same thing. YouTube and apps like TikTok are Netflix’s real competition, not TV.

Netflix has even acknowledged this existential threat through a product redesign in April that added a TikTok-style stream based on Netflix content.

Where Netflix gets streaming wrong is that it still presents itself as a way to help you find something to watch, rather than being what you’re watching. It’s understandable why Netflix went this route given its library, but it’s not necessarily what the end user wants. Today, many people with dopamine-drained attention spans are turning to micro-drama apps in increasing numbers when they want a serialized story they can consume in minutes.

According to data from app intelligence company Appfigures, a leading micro-drama app, ReelShort, saw an estimated $1.2 billion in gross consumer spending in 2025, up 119% from 2024, TechCrunch’s Amanda Silberling previously reported. Meanwhile, another top app, DramaBox, generated $276 million in gross consumer spending last year, more than doubling its figure for 2024. Even TikTok has recognized the competition, launching its own micro-drama app to test the market’s appetite for this type of content.

Where does Netflix go from here?

Where does this leave Netflix, whose claim to fame was full seasons immediately dropped for quick consumption?

Most likely, it will have to rethink how it greenlights, produces and markets what it considers “television”.

That doesn’t mean Netflix’s model needs to shift entirely to short form to keep up with the competition, but it may need to rethink how people want to stream. Viewers may no longer want to spend the hours and weeks it takes to sit through a show and all its subsequent seasons, for example. They want something that feels more “finishable,” the way you can easily go through a YouTube video or a TikTok series from a creator.

A simple solution could see Netflix try to prioritize single-season shows, traditionally known as miniseries or limited seriesallowing people to tune into a finished project without having to worry if it will end on a cliff and never be renewed.

Netflix could also experiment with breaking up shows into smaller chunks, like the old Quibi model.

Jeffrey Katzenberg-backed startup Quibi had bet that people would eventually gravitate toward television content designed to be consumed in shorter sessions. Unfortunately for Quibi, the pandemic hit and people suddenly had a lot of time to watch TV, leading to it being taken down.

Many Netflix shows could easily be renewed for shorter viewing sessions, especially lighthearted competition shows like “Nailed It,” “Is It Cake?” or “Squid Game: The Challenge”. Meanwhile, Netflix could definitely produce better mini-dramas than the ones currently on the market with their awful acting and ridiculous storylines.

To generate interest in the higher-quality content, some Netflix shows could be moved to the weekly release model. This is something that Netflix has already proven to work in certain cases. For example, she drops new episodes of her reality show ‘Love Is Blind’. weekly dumpsmaking it great water cooler fodder as everyone watches the new episodes at the same time. (Faster consumption models could also work. For example, Peacock’s “Love Island USA” is the reality hit of the summer, as there is a new episode almost every day).

But instead of experimenting with different types of short-form content for quick entertainment, paired with slower releases for seasons, or focusing more on binge-worthy miniseries, Netflix is ​​branching out into other areas.

Recently, she has expanded her series with podcasts, which reportedly no one is watchingand live contentwhich can be hit or miss. As for the latter, Netflix’s investments in Live sports have generally done well, but his recent entry into live reality competition, “Star Search,” has has already been cancelled despite the smart real-time voting feature. Still more work is needed here.

Bloomberg’s report described the problem facing Netflix as a failure to build loyal viewers tuning in to a season 2, but the underlying problem facing the streamer is much bigger. Netflix may need to rethink whether it should focus on competing with traditional TV and its long-running shows, or whether it should focus on entertainment projects whose story arcs are less intense and wrap up more quickly.

To find the right balance between viewers who are abandoning cable and those who simply want something better than TikTok, Netflix is ​​finding that it needs to reinvent TV all over again.