# Streaming industry audience and production trends > Live situation record from CLSTR: https://clstr.news/situations/streaming-industry-audience-and-production-trends > Updated: 2026-09-26T15:29:55.000Z. Sources: 9. Developments: 2. Streaming audiences are showing an increasing preference for miniseries over traditional long-running series. This trend is driven by a desire for self-contained narratives that avoid the risk of sudden cancellations and the multi-year commitment required by standard series. From a production perspective, the miniseries format allows studios to allocate higher budgets toward quality, which helps attract high-profile talent. Simultaneously, the industry is struggling with audience retention due to long production hiatuses. Research indicates that series experiencing gaps longer than 18 months can see audience declines of up to 60%. High-profile productions such as Euphoria and Stranger Things have faced significant delays, which are attributed to the pursuit of cinematic quality, visual effects requirements, platform renewal strategies, and actor scheduling conflicts. For example, Netflix’s ‘The Gentlemen’ experienced a 45.1% drop in views during its second season debut compared to its first, a decline analysts suggest may be linked to the two-and-a-half-year gap between seasons. ## Timeline ### 2026-09-26: Streaming industry faces audience decline due to long production hiatuses Long gaps between streaming series seasons can lead to audience drops of up to 60%, driven by high production standards and platform renewal strategies. 4 sources. https://clstr.news/cluster/streaming-industry-faces-audience-decline-due-to-long-production-hiatuses ### 2026-09-10: Streaming trends show growing preference for miniseries over long-running series Audiences are shifting toward miniseries for complete narratives and higher production quality, though long gaps between seasons can lead to significant viewership declines for returning hits like Netflix’s “$# 5 sources. https://clstr.news/cluster/streaming-trends-show-growing-preference-for-miniseries-over-long-running-series --- Cite as: Streaming industry audience and production trends. CLSTR, https://clstr.news/situations/streaming-industry-audience-and-production-trends