Why Does Netflix Take An Awfully Long Between Seasons of Shows? The Frustrating Reasons for the Super Long Wait

In this day and age, we’re so used to being able to stream anything and everything at the click of a button. Netflix is one of the biggest streaming platforms in the world and has thousands of titles for users to stream, both existing content and content that Netflix produces. While the streaming service has become one of the best places to watch original content, there’s a huge downfall: how long it takes to create it. The bottom line? It’s taking entirely too long for a new season to be produced. Viewers don’t want to wait literal years to find out what happens next. But why is this happening?

Netflix Takes Too Long

When a show hits Netflix, or any other streaming platform for that matter, we’re so quick to watch, and a majority of the time, the whole season is binged in a day or so. Then that leaves us to wait to see what happens next, and unfortunately, with the way things have been going, it could take literal years.

Take Bridgerton, for example. The incredibly popular show premiered its third season in May of 2024, and only recently has the show made the announcement as to when fans can expect season four. According to Tudum, season four won’t be coming out until 2026. That will be two years until fans are able to see what happens next, which is an awfully long time for them to have to wait.

Then, of course, there is the saga of Stranger Things. Season four of the show was released in two parts in May and July of 2022. That same year, Netflix announced that the series would end with a fifth and final season. Unfortunately, the show was affected by the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA strikes, which further delayed production even more. As of right now, the final season has no exact release date, but it is rumored to release in 2025. That’s a three-year gap between seasons, which is way too long.

What’s The Reasoning?

Of course, there are many reasons why things are so delayed with production timing. In the past, we’ve had things like the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA strikes that greatly affected the production of things, and are still making a bit of an impact now. It still doesn’t answer the question: why are things still taking so long?

According to Backstage, the actors themselves are a part of the problem. Thanks to the immense success of their projects, a lot of them sign on to do other shows and movies. With their schedules filling up, it’s even harder to find a time that works for everyone to start filming the next season.

Of course, production value is different than shows that appear on regular broadcast television, which is also why things take longer. The budgets are bigger, the effects and editing are also bigger and better, and because of this, things take more time.

Regular Television Thrives

While streaming is huge in this day and age, and a lot of us exclusively stream these shows, regular broadcast television is able to produce things quicker, which allows things to continue to thrive. Netflix seasons are much smaller, oftentimes releasing an average of eight episodes. Broadcast television still releases about 20 to 24 episodes a season that continuously run from Fall to Spring, most of the time with a small break in between. According to Northeastern Global News, there are different factors going into broadcast shows, such as a limited budget and staying in a set location.

Factors like these allow for production to be a lot faster for broadcast television, which is why we get seasons a lot faster than Netflix and other streaming platforms.

If streaming is going to continue to take over, something has to be done about the immense amount of time between seasons. Like regular broadcast television does, streaming platforms need to find a formula to produce things quicker, and hope they can match the demand and the quickness of broadcast television. In the meantime, we’ll still be waiting her for the next season of four favorite shows.