Why Are TV Seasons So Short Now? - [Complete Explanation]

If you are among the generation that has seen TV seasons becoming shorter and shorter, you must be wondering why TV seasons are so short now.

Although there are many reasons behind from long TV seasons to short, still the biggest one is the interest of the audience. The world is getting fast, and people want content.

Once there was a time when we used to watch TV seasons for years. If you are like me, you must still be stuck in that era and want TV seasons to be long again.

Well, it’s not in our hands, not because companies don’t want to make long shows but (mainly) because people want to see shorter content.

But we have a few potential reasons why TV seasons are so short now:

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6 Potential Reasons for Shorter TV Seasons These Days:

TV shows and dramas are still coming up with 2 to 4 seasons on average, but these seasons are extremely smaller than what we have seen in the past. Here’s why:

1. People Don’t Have the Time:

As we have addressed earlier, the main reason behind the decrease in the number of episodes of TV seasons is that people don’t have time to watch long content.

The decade from 2010 to 2020 was the fastest one in terms of everything from technological innovation to daily life trends. Things have become faster.

The new generation is now used to this fast-paced lifestyle in which we all are living more in less time. For example, when we were young, we used to watch long TV shows in one sitting (maybe two or even 3 hours).

But then people started getting bored, and long-form YouTube-style videos started getting into action. But the new generation (or what we call Gen-Z) is more interested in 15 seconds videos.

The summary is that they want to watch more stuff in less time!

2. Actors are More Dominant:

A few years ago, there were three sections of actors:

Who just work on TV shows and dramas
Who just works in movies.
Who works for both.

At that time, the third ones were quite rare and were almost impossible to afford for many producers. While the first two were completely dedicated to seasons or movies.

But now, the tables have turned, and now all stars lie in the third category. Not just this, but they also charge per episode, per day, and even according to the time of the shooting.

Now, tell me one thing! Why would creators of a show pay more bucks if their show can become famous in less?

3. To Save Time and Money:

The scheduling of TV (on the streaming platform) has been demolished by the trend of uploading all episodes at once.

And all binge-watchers watch the whole TV season in one sitting on the very first day of release and start asking for more in the next to no time.

It means that no matter how long the story of a season is, they can’t brag it to 50 or 60 weeks like they used to do in the past.

That’s why they are more comfortable with fewer episodes and more stories. By doing this, they are saving a lot of money not just with actors but also on many other things.

Moreover, by doing this, they have more time to start working on the next season of the same show or even a new show.

4. It’s Expensive:

In the 21^st century, streaming platforms like Netflix and Hulu have taken charge, and almost no one tends to watch TV.

There are many reasons behind the switch from TV to Netflix. But anyways, modern streaming platforms are way more expensive than old cable networking or antenna.

This is why people want to make the most of it. In other words, they want to watch as many TV seasons as they can for less money.

5. Creators Want You to Watch More:

This reason is quite related to the last one. As people want to watch more at less cost, makers of seasons want to make them feel that they are watching more.

Got it?

Like, if you watch three TV seasons with eight episodes each, you will feel that you have watched more content than one TV season with 24 episodes.

To understand it in another way, they are actually playing with your mind.

6. Better Quality:

In the end, everything will eventually work in your favor (mostly), and you will get to consume more high-quality content in less time.

Many creators of TV seasons have admitted, and we have also noticed that short TV seasons are proved to be much better in terms of storytelling.

There is no time waste as creators are not interested in bragging, which is why the story always revolves around the main point and never goes off track.

Are Shorter Seasons Wiping Out Television?

This is one of those broad questions that can’t be answered with a “yes” or “no.”

So, let’s discuss it widely:

It’s an age where people get bored real quick, which is why shorter seasons are the much better choice. Hooking an audience for 40, 30, or even 20 episodes has become almost impossible.

In reality, streaming services have ruined TV instead of shorter seasons. In the era of TVs (when TVs were relatively new), TV seasons used to come with one episode per week or even per month.

But streaming services did the trick and asked people for more money and provided them with the whole seasons at once.

Now, the audience started binge-watching stuff and ended seasons in one sitting. Here, these streaming services had one more thing to do, and that was to stick the audience to the show for the next seasons.

Hence, they started adding a “suspense moment” at the end of the seasons instead of the episode (like old TV seasons).

It implies that people are still in that same state of mind and don’t realize that they are still waiting for the next twists and turns for (even) months.

Conclusion:

Now, you completely know why TV seasons are shorter than ever before.

Furthermore, you also know whether shorter seasons are ruining TV or not. If you still have any questions related to the topic, ask us freely or find them in our other articles.

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Why Are TV Seasons So Short Now? – [Complete Explanation]