Because Fox has entered a suicide pact with broadcast TV viewers, it is encouraging them to set their DVRs for its high-profile new series, The Following. Actually, it probably doesn't hurt to acknowledge, internally, that people don't like to watch ads. Also, if people record the show and watch it, they might like it.
Netflix, meanwhile, is pretending to be a DVR with its first original series, House of Cards, which will premiere its first season in its entirety in February. All 13 episodes will be available at once, allowing people to watch the series how they watch other series on Netflix -- all at once. A story in the New York Times quotes the show runner as saying that the release format allowed them to write the show in an unconventional way:
"“We approached this creatively as a 13-hour movie,” said Mr. Willimon, who eschewed cliffhangers at the ends of some episodes because, well, he could. “Knowing we had two full seasons in advance, I didn’t feel the pressure to sell the end of each episode with superficial cliffhangers or shock tactics in order to keep coming back, in order to jack up the ratings week to week,” he said. “I hope our version of a cliffhanger is compelling, sophisticated characters and complex storytelling.”"'
Contrast this experience with that of The Following creator Kevin Williamson, who reportedly struggled with “how to make something scary when you’re writing to a commercial break."
As the differences between cable and broadcast allow for different approaches to content, full-season releases like that of House of Cards have the potential to further change the television series form.
It is also notable that, according to the Times, Netflix agreed to the series based on its subscribers' viewing habits (the popularity of other work by the show's creators, similar subject matter, and its original BBC version). This helps to explain why Netflix picked up the upcoming new season of Arrested Development, a series which I've cycled through a few times on Netflix myself.
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