Netflix is implementing a new release pattern for its 10-episode hip-hop competition series Rhythm + Flow.
Picked up straight-to-series in November, the show — hosted by Cardi B, Chance the Rapper and Tip “T.I.” Harris — will air over three weeks. The first batch of four episodes will launch Wednesdays, Oct. 9, and feature the audition process. Week two, launching Oct. 16, will consist of episodes five through seven and cover cyphers, rap battles and music videos. The series will conclude Wednesday, Oct. 23, with episodes eight through 10 and cover samples, collaborations and the finale. (Watch the trailer for Rhythm + Flow, below.)
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Rhythm + Flow is the streaming giant’s first music competition series and features industry legends in a multiple-city (covering L.A., New York, Atlanta and Chicago) search for undiscovered artists. John Legend, Ty Stiklorius and Mike Jackson’s Get Lifted, Gaspin and his Gaspin Media, Jesse Collins and his Jesse Collins Entertainment exec produce alongside Nikki Boella, Jeff Pollack, Cardi B., Chance the Rapper and Harris.
The weekly rollout is the first for a Netflix original series outside of talk shows like Patriot Act. Other Netflix titles — largely licensed offerings like the new season of Great Baking Show — have been implemented. New episodes of Great British Baking Show debut on Netflix weekly the day after each episode airs on the U.K.’s Channel 4. Sources say Netflix hopes releasing the episodes timed to each phase of the competition will help build momentum among viewers.
Of course the knock on Netflix among many in the creative community has been that the streamer’s all-at-once binge model of releasing episodes limits the amount of time programming remains a topic of conversation. It’s unclear if the weekly strategy implemented for Rhythm + Flow is the beginning of a shift in that model as Netflix begins to lose some of its top licensed programming like Friends and The Office and looks to keep buzzy offerings (like say Stranger Things or The Crown) in the conversation for longer periods of time.
