Netflix viewers say 'TV is ruined' over 'bleak' way we watch new shows

A Netflix subscriber reckons streaming has 'ruined' how we watch TV - and people are in agreement.

The world's largest streaming platform, Netflix actually started as a DVD rental and postal service founded in 1998.

Its streaming feature wasn't launched until 2007, first in the US and then eventually across the globe.

It's hard to imagine life without streaming, and while so many of us love to binge-watch our favorite TV shows and movies, there certainly are some downsides to having full box-sets of shows at our fingertips - especially new releases.

Well, one Netflix user has taken to social media to vent her frustrations with streaming.

X user @reginalinettis - who also goes by Diana - penned: "Netflix’s binge model has actually ruined how we watch and talk about television shows because what do you mean that i have to watch an ENTIRE show in one sitting to be able to participate in a discussion about the show."

She continued: "And not to mention you get inundated with spoilers as soon as you open twitter like it’s just so bleak we need to eliminate the binge model on netflix and bring back weekly episodes and bring back water cooler talk."

netflix’s binge model has actually ruined how we watch and talk about television show’s because what do you mean that i have to watch an ENTIRE show in one sitting to be able to participate in a discussion about the show

— diana (@reginalinettis) January 18, 2025

Diana's words resonated with other Netflix subscribers, too.

And I have to admit - as much as I loved binging Baby Reindeer all in one day last year, I think I'd have appreciated it more had I watched it one episode a week, like in the 'old days'...

One person responded: "Literally exactly how im feeling rn like i wanna tweet about XO, Kitty so bad rn but dont wanna risk my feed ending up with XO Kitty stuff + i dont wanna tweet anything that ends up being way wrong when all the discussion is around the ending lol."

A second agreed: "You can't dissect episodes anymore because as soon as you make a tweet, spoilers and if you have to finish the entire thing you'll forget the details."

A third said: "Say what u want about Disney+ and its shows, but at least the weekly release allows for everyone to watch and react together and theorize online about what’s gonna happen (Mando, Wandavision, Agatha, Xmen97 all being the strongest examples of this)."

So yes, while Netflix led the way in releasing all episodes of its original series at once, rivals like Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video soon picked up on the demand for weekly episode releases and introduced (or...reintroduced?) it around five years ago now.

Of course, this business model also encourages people to keep their subscriptions going to finish up a series...

And with Netflix, Disney and Amazon all adding adverts into their cheapest subscription models, doesn't it almost feel like 'normal' TV is coming back around?

Funny how these things go full circle...

UNILAD has contacted Netflix for comment.