@oldhollywoodcapWaiting three years between seasons of a hit show may not be the winning play it once looked like. Luminate studied what happens to a series' audience when the break stretches past 1.5 years, and the pattern mostly runs one direction: down. Avatar: The Last Airbender lost 60% of its U.S. views after a gap of more than two years. Wednesday reportedly dropped 59% following a 2.75-year wait. What makes it sting is the scale. A season can cost somewhere around $200 million, close on a cliffhanger, and then the show vanishes for years. Severance is the exception worth noting. After three years away it nearly tripled its 12-week audience, with help from that cliffhanger, a strong marketing push and people telling each other to watch. Still, Luminate's wider sample shows long gaps hurting more often than helping. The part that stuck with me: shows that came back after about a year generally gained viewers, The Pitt and Landman among them. "See you in three years" may not have been much of a release strategy after all.

@oldhollywoodcapWaiting three years between seasons of a hit show may not be the winning play it once looked like. Luminate studied what happens to a series' audience when the break stretches past 1.5 years, and the pattern mostly runs one direction: down. Avatar: The Last Airbender lost 60% of its U.S. views after a gap of more than two years. Wednesday reportedly dropped 59% following a 2.75-year wait. What makes it sting is the scale. A season can cost somewhere around $200 million, close on a cliffhanger, and then the show vanishes for years. Severance is the exception worth noting. After three years away it nearly tripled its 12-week audience, with help from that cliffhanger, a strong marketing push and people telling each other to watch. Still, Luminate's wider sample shows long gaps hurting more often than helping. The part that stuck with me: shows that came back after about a year generally gained viewers, The Pitt and Landman among them. "See you in three years" may not have been much of a release strategy after all.