In Spain, 325 fiction titles released from 2020 to 2024 tell a story that challenges the idea that streaming has pushed television aside: the two are finding ways to share the screen and the audience.
A study from the University of Alicante examined how traditional, scheduled television and video-on-demand platforms work alongside one another. Its conclusion is not that one model has won. Instead, TV broadcasters and streaming services are building partnerships and moving shows between platforms, giving some productions more than one way to reach viewers. The findings were published in the journal Communication & Society.
Doctoral researcher Jorge Abad and lecturer Tatiana Hidalgo, from the university’s Department of Communication and Social Psychology, assessed 325 serialized fiction titles released in Spain over the five-year period. The group included 191 series, 51 miniseries and 83 documentary series. Most arrived all at once: 222 titles were released in full on a single date. Another 102 followed a weekly schedule, while two used a mix of release styles.
That split reflects a familiar choice for viewers: watch a whole season in a weekend, or wait for a new episode each week. Releasing a full season at once remained the leading approach among streaming services, but weekly schedules still mattered. Netflix leaned toward full-season launches. Movistar+ was moving toward more weekly episodes, while Prime Video, HBO Max and Disney+ used a mix of approaches. Atresplayer stood out for its commitment to releasing one episode a week.
The study also found a small ratings edge for weekly releases. They earned an average score of 6.8 on IMDb and Filmaffinity, compared with 6.6 for titles released all at once. The researchers said weekly episodes can help build emotional involvement and strengthen viewers’ sense of a story’s quality. The figures show an association, rather than proving that the schedule alone caused the higher scores.
Cooperation is another part of the changing picture. The researchers identified more than 40 seasons connected to joint production models. Coproductions and distribution agreements let companies share costs and risks, while helping a title circulate beyond its first home. Television still plays an important role in making a series visible and creating a sense of occasion around its release. When a show later moves to a streaming service, it can stay available longer and find new viewers. The researchers cautioned that a show moving the other way—from a platform to broadcast television—does not necessarily have the same effect.
For audiences, the result is a media landscape shaped less by a contest between old and new than by a series’ journey across both. The services continue to build distinct identities, but their launch plans are becoming more flexible. Abad and Hidalgo’s research suggests that the future of Spanish television and streaming may depend on how well they work together to give each production a longer life.