Khaberni - As the final episode of the fifth and last season of "Stranger Things" approaches, Netflix's audience is preparing for a new era away from one of its most popular and thrilling series.
The series, which began in 2016, helped Netflix establish itself as a major player in the television streaming world, and is one of the best examples of how original content can attract viewers and increase subscriptions. However, after 9 years, with the end of this legendary series, Netflix faces a fundamental question: how will it maintain its position after the end of such a powerful series?
According to "The Independent", the crisis is not just about losing the series, but about the decline in the company's innovative image. While Netflix was known in its early days for its striking and bold content, today some of its productions are described as "Netflix slop", easily forgettable content, and not every large production achieves the expected success.
The fierce competition from other platforms such as Disney+ and Apple TV+ increases the pressure. These companies have succeeded in maintaining audience engagement for longer periods through the weekly release method, which prompted Netflix to try a new style with the fifth season of Stranger Things by releasing episodes in batches.
In a new step, Netflix released the fifth season as eight episodes divided into three batches: four episodes in November, three episodes on Christmas Day, and a long final episode on New Year's Eve.
This strategy reflected an attempt to prolong the life of the series and continue the discussion around it, but it contradicts Netflix's previous policy of releasing entire series at once for continuous viewing, a policy that distinguished it from traditional competitors.
According to the newspaper, the end of the series raises many questions, the most prominent of which are: What is the next series that can achieve the same momentum as "Stranger Things" for the platform? Does Netflix even need a series with such success anymore? Or can it rely on its current status in the competitive market along with a collection of smaller works?
