Canceled shows on Prime Video are proving the weekly release was best for Outlander

There is no doubt that Outlander fans would love a binge-watch release. The truth is, though, the weekly release format has been the best thing for the show’s success.

For the longest time, a weekly release was the only thing we knew. We had to wait for DVD releases to be able to binge-watch a show. Then Netflix arrived and changed the model. Other streamers followed suit, but the premium cable networks stuck to their weekly releases.

Outlander came to Starz, which is a premium cable channel. That meant a weekly release, and it was the best thing for the show’s success. The recent cancellations on Prime Video, such as My Lady Jane, are proof of that.

A binge model would have seen Outlander fail

With a binge-release model, viewers would have needed to know all about the show right away. Now granted, 10 years ago, we weren’t as fearful of shows being canceled after just one season due to lack of viewership. The costs of production weren’t as high as they are today, and Netflix hadn’t jaded up with sudden cancellations.

However, I don’t think the series would have gained the following that it would have with the binge model.

Well, okay, I don’t think it would have failed after one season. The benefit of the first season was that it had the book following and people were excited to see their story come to life. It was so popular right away that the show was renewed after just the couple of episodes. It would have been the second season where things failed.

A long wait between Outlander seasons

We’ve already seen that the long wait drags on fans. While fans didn’t have to wait too long for Outlander Season 2, it could have been too long for some.

By this point, it still really only had the original book fans and those who happened to have Starz. It was arguably when Outlander was put on Netflix around the world that the series became more popular. We know Season 5 was the most-watched on Starz up to that point because the series had gone to Netflix. People who didn’t know it before the books needed to find out about it in another way, and Starz wasn’t a big enough streamer at the time.

The long wait between seasons with a weekly release was bad enough. It would have been even longer with a binge-release. Starz would have needed to see how the series performed within the first month and made sure people watched all the way to the end. Then they would have needed to make a renewal or cancellation decision, and then there’s the production process. Droughtlander would have been much longer, and we already see the complaints due to the length of Droughtlander right now.

That long wait would have led to a decline in viewership. The weekly release at least keeps the show on the mind of fans for two to three months. A binge-watch release leads to a show being forgotten about after a month in a lot of cases.

While I love watching as a binge, I also adore the weekly release schedule for the success of shows. Outlander has benefitted from that weekly model.