There’s nothing better than sitting on the couch to binge your favorite TV show. Or, maybe, there is. In the era of streaming, binge-watching is easier than ever. So, it seems potentially incongruous that appointment viewing — watching a television show when it first airs — is so capable of seizing the collective attention of viewers.
But fandom is a powerful force, and appointment viewing has tamed the beast into something fearsome. Rather than encouraging viewers to settle in with episode after episode queued up, shows like “Survivor,” “The Pitt” and summer’s guilty pleasure “Love Island” make their fans wait for it.
It’s not a new concept; “Survivor” has been rocking weekly episode drops since its first foray in 2000 on the Bornean beaches. But it has reached a new fervor with watch parties popping up across the country and “Love Island’”s reality flair convincing millions to watch almost daily as hot singles couple up.
There’s obvious incentive to watch when an episode airs if everyone is talking about it; you can hardly open your phone during “Love Island” season without seeing a spoiler. And the reality dating show takes it a step further: Fans can vote live on who must leave the villa and who lives to flirt another day.
