Netflix invented binge-watching. Now it may have grown up.

A scathing Bloomberg report citing Netflix data suggests that viewers are increasingly abandoning popular shows before the second season. The reasons are probably not hard to guess: Netflix often cancels shows, there are long waits between seasons, and much of Netflix’s content is designed by algorithm instead of creativity.

But the data also shows a shift in how people use entertainment. Netflix’s innovation – binge – was created at a time when streaming was competing with traditional TV. Today, Netflix competes with TikTok, YouTube, Reels, and various microdrama apps. That change makes Netflix’s binge-watching model sound like a relic of another era.

Indulgence helped Netflix beat TV

When Netflix first dropped an entire season of “House of Cards” in February 2013, it was a revelation.
Ad-free, internet-connected TV means we can be freed from the usual once-a-week schedule of commercials. Instead, the wild shows meant that viewers could be entertained for hours, quickly forming relationships with subjects and their characters that would otherwise take years to develop. Plus, you can access them at any time – not just the day the network decided to air it, like cable TV.

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

Now Netflix’s competition is not old TV, but what has become today’s TV: video apps.

TikTok and YouTube are today’s threats

Thanks to the rise of TikTok, Reels, and other short video platforms, there’s no need to visit Netflix if you have a few hours to kill with mindless entertainment. There are endless, free video offerings you can turn to instead.

According to eMarketer analysts, TikTok was already approaching Netflix in terms of time spent back in 2024, when American adults spent an average of 62.1 minutes per day streaming from Netflix and 58.4 minutes per day on TikTok. In 2024, the Financial Times reported that, worldwide, TikTok users spend an average of 95 minutes a day on the application, the highest level of engagement among major social networks.

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

These market reports use different methods and demographics, so they should be taken with a grain of salt – but the direction, points in the same direction. YouTube and apps like TikTok are the real competition for Netflix, not TV.

Netflix even acknowledged this threat with a product redesign in April that added a TikTok-like feed based on Netflix content.

Where Netflix gets the feed wrong is that it’s still positioned as a way to help you find something to watch, rather than being the thing you’re watching. It’s understandable why Netflix went this route, given its library, but it’s not what the end user wants. Today, many people with dopamine-drained attention spans are instead looking for microdrama apps in growing numbers when they’re looking for a structured storyline that they can consume in minutes.

According to data from app intelligence firm Appfigures, one top microdrama app, ReelShort, saw nearly $1.2 billion in consumer spending by 2025, up 119% from 2024, TechCrunch’s Amanda Silberling previously reported. Meanwhile, another leading app, DramaBox, generated $276 million in consumer spending last year, doubling its 2024 numbers. Even TikTok has acknowledged the competition, launching a microdrama app specifically to explore the market for this type of content.

Where does Netflix go from here?

Where does that leave Netflix, whose claim to fame has been full seasons streaming simultaneously for instant consumption?

Most likely, it will have to rethink how it lights, produces, and releases what it considers “TV play.”

That doesn’t mean Netflix’s model has to change completely to keep up with the competition, but it may have to look at how people want to stream. Viewers may no longer want to devote the hours and weeks it takes to tune into a show and all of its subsequent seasons, for example. They want something that feels like it’s “ending,” the way you might easily find a YouTube video or a TikTok thread from a creator.

A simple fix would see Netflix try to prioritize one-season shows, commonly known as miniseries or limited series, allowing people to watch the finished work without worrying that it will end up on the cliff and not be renewed.

Netflix may also try to break up shows into smaller episodes, like Quibi’s earlier model.

The Jeffrey Katzenberg-backed startup, Quibi, was betting that people would eventually gravitate toward TV content designed for short-term consumption. Unfortunately for Quibi, an epidemic struck, and people simply had too much time to watch TV, leading to its demise.

Many Netflix shows can easily be reviewed in short viewing sessions, especially light-hearted competitions like “Nailed It,” “Is It Cake?,” or “Squid Game: The Challenge.” Meanwhile, Netflix can produce better microdramas than the ones currently on the market with their bad and funny stories.

To generate interest in its high-quality content, some Netflix shows can be switched to a weekly release model. This is something Netflix has already proven to work in certain situations. For example, it dumps new episodes of its reality show “Love Is Blind” every week, making it great watercooler fodder since everyone is watching new episodes at the same time. (Quick-use models can work, too. For example, Peacock’s “Love Island USA” is a real 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, combined with slow releases of seasons, or focusing more on must-watch miniseries, Netflix has been playing in other areas.

As of late, it has expanded its lineup with podcasts, which reportedly no one watches, and live content, which can be hit or miss. As for the latter, Netflix’s investments in live sports have generally done well, but its latest entry into the reality competition live show, “Star Search,” has been canceled despite a smart real-time voting feature. More work is still needed here.

A Bloomberg report framed the problem facing Netflix as a failure to create loyal TV viewers tuning in for Season 2, but the underlying problem facing the broadcaster is much bigger. Netflix may need to rethink whether it still needs to focus on competing with traditional TV and its long-running shows, or should it focus on entertainment projects whose story arcs have little filler and wrap up very quickly.

To find the right balance between viewers ditching cable and those just looking for something better than TikTok, Netflix finds itself needing to reinvent TV.