Next up order for new episodes/seasons

[Janis.S 2]

Right now, the next up list is sorted by last watched. If a new episode gets added, it is sometimes so far down in that list that you don't notice that there is a new episode at all.

That is a problem when you are watching a lot different shows and between longer season breaks.

Default behaviour should be: the latest added episode that isn't marked as watched, with previous episode marked as watched should be put up front.

[ginjaninja 605]

one thing to bear in mind is there is a "latest ribbon" separate to the "next up"

 

considering your particular case,

if i am in the middle of watching 10 different shows, and another show (which i had watched s01 less recently than these other 10 shows) premieries S02E01, i am not so sure that this new show should get bumped to the front of next up.

consider the people who like to not start too many shows at once, or not start a season until whole season has aired..

as well as the fact that the other 10 shows have had epiosdes watched more recently

Edited April 24, 2020 by ginjaninja

[ebr 16169]

Right now, the next up list is sorted by last watched. If a new episode gets added, it is sometimes so far down in that list that you don't notice that there is a new episode at all.

That is a problem when you are watching a lot different shows and between longer season breaks.

Default behaviour should be: the latest added episode that isn't marked as watched, with previous episode marked as watched should be put up front.

 

IMO that doesn't really fit the normal use case of Next Up.  The list is sorted by last watched so the series you are watching now are at the front of the list.

 

What I think  you would like is a way to call attention to the fact that there is a new season that just started in a series you haven't watched in a while - correct?  If so, I really think that should be a separate thing.

[ginjaninja 605]

IMO that doesn't really fit the normal use case of Next Up. The list is sorted by last watched so the series you are watching now are at the front of the list.

 

What I think you would like is a way to call attention to the fact that there is a new season that just started in a series you haven't watched in a while - correct? If so, I really think that should be a separate thing.

calling attention somewhere/somehow to a season premiere or season ending would be usefull to me.

 

Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk

[ginjaninja 605]

IMO that doesn't really fit the normal use case of Next Up. The list is sorted by last watched so the series you are watching now are at the front of the list.

 

What I think you would like is a way to call attention to the fact that there is a new season that just started in a series you haven't watched in a while - correct? If so, I really think that should be a separate thing.

i do believe the next up algorithm does not take proper consideration of half watched content This is particularly apparent on half watched content particularly on s01e01..half watched s01e01 will not even appear on nextup..and more recently half watched content does not appear higher than older fully watched content.

 

 

 

 

 

Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk

[ebr 16169]

The old Android TV app does have an option to show "Season Premieres" on a separate row which calls out this situation (new episode/season of something you haven't watched in a while).  I would think something like that could be useful across the board.

[soderlund91 50]

That could work as well. However, I would prefer it to appear first in Continue Watching; that makes a lot more sense to me.

The issue with having a separate row is that if I don’t want to watch a show anymore, it will stay there. Sure, I can change the watched status to make it disappear, but that requires admin access and knowledge of that workaround—something my wife or mother doesn’t have. And maybe later I want to pick that series up again; in that case, it makes much more sense to have it in Continue Watching along with the others. If I’ve removed the watched status, I also won’t know where to pick up again.

If it’s an easy or quick fix, the existing Season Premieres functionality could work, but please don’t name it Season Premieres if it also includes single episodes (e.g. S03E04). A more appropriate name would be something like New Releases (although that already exists..). The best name I can think of is Continue Watching, since that’s effectively what it is—but then again, it should be part of the main Continue Watching banner.

To me, it makes complete sense to place it first together with the other Continue Watching items. Otherwise, we end up with two Continue Watching sections that are essentially the same thing.

[ebr 16169]

5 minutes ago, soderlund91 said:

I would prefer it to appear first in Continue Watching; that makes a lot more sense to me.

I think that only makes sense to you because your brain is doing some extra processing out of band.  In everyday viewing, it is much more likely that you wish to see the next episode of the series you are watching right now rather than one you watched a long time ago that the system cannot be sure whether or not you care about anymore.  See what I mean?

7 minutes ago, soderlund91 said:

if I don’t want to watch a show anymore, it will stay there.

There is an option to "Remove from Continue Watching" which removes it until you watch another episode.

[crusher11 1100]

10 minutes ago, ebr said:

it is much more likely that you wish to see the next episode of the series you are watching right now rather than one you watched a long time ago 

This assumes that once episodes run out, one considers oneself to no longer be watching that series. 

[ebr 16169]

1 minute ago, crusher11 said:

This assumes that once episodes run out, one considers oneself to no longer be watching that series. 

No it doesn't.  It just assumes that there are a lot more times that you are watching subsequent episodes within a season than you are watching a brand new episode of a new season.  Probably something like 8-10 times more likely.

Its about what's most likely, which is not going be correct every single time but, rather, most of the time.

This is where the separate "Season Premieres" row (IMO) works well because it calls it out and  you can either remove it, ignore it for a while but it will still be there when you're ready, or watch it right away.

[crusher11 1100]

22 minutes ago, ebr said:

No it doesn't.  

Yes, it does. That's the entire source of the disagreement here. 

[ebr 16169]

15 hours ago, crusher11 said:

Yes, it does. That's the entire source of the disagreement here. 

If we did exactly what was requested here:

On 4/24/2020 at 7:37 AM, Janis.S said:

Default behaviour should be: the latest added episode that isn't marked as watched, with previous episode marked as watched should be put up front.

We would be favoring the 1% scenario over the 99% one.  That would just be bad design.  Instead, we favor the much more likely scenario and I offered a way to address the 1%.

[soderlund91 50]

22 hours ago, ebr said:

I think that only makes sense to you because your brain is doing some extra processing out of band.  In everyday viewing, it is much more likely that you wish to see the next episode of the series you are watching right now rather than one you watched a long time ago that the system cannot be sure whether or not you care about anymore.  See what I mean?

There is an option to "Remove from Continue Watching" which removes it until you watch another episode.

In my opinion, I’m much more likely to want to watch a new season that I’ve been waiting a year for, or a new episode I’ve been eagerly waiting a week for.

If I just want to continue casually watching Scrubs, it’s only one (or maybe two) button clicks to get there.

I understand that this could become an issue if several shows—say three or four—appear at the front and Scrubs ends up in fifth place. That’s a valid concern.

I also want to mention what you said about “the option to remove from Continue Watching.” That’s exactly the point: we are continuing to watch a series that I’ve previously been watching. And if I don’t want it there in the first place, I can easily remove it.

I’m concerned that if you go down the road of using Season Premieres, it will eventually fill up with series that I “don’t want to watch right now, but also don’t want to remove either.” At that point, we effectively end up with two Continue Watching sections that serve the same purpose.

6 hours ago, ebr said:

If we did exactly what was requested here:

We would be favoring the 1% scenario over the 99% one.  That would just be bad design.  Instead, we favor the much more likely scenario and I offered a way to address the 1%.

 

An honest question: how do Netflix, Disney+, and similar services handle this? I know the Emby project doesn’t want to be a “Netflix-style” product, but they do understand how media is consumed and what the vast majority of users want.

I’m extremely happy that you want to address this issue at all. I think we can agree that the current behavior isn’t optimal, with a new season premiere ending up far down the list.

If we can get a Season Premiere view, I’d be happy with that as well—just please consider naming it something else, since it would also include newly added episodes.

[ebr 16169]

1 hour ago, soderlund91 said:

In my opinion, I’m much more likely to want to watch a new season that I’ve been waiting a year for, or a new episode I’ve been eagerly waiting a week for.

Right, but that's only in that one instance when that new item comes in.  My point is that situation occurs much less often than you watching the next episode in line with a season.  IOW there are a lot fewer new season premieres than there are other episodes.

1 hour ago, soderlund91 said:

I’m concerned that if you go down the road of using Season Premieres, it will eventually fill up with series that I “don’t want to watch right now, but also don’t want to remove either.”

But, if we don't separate them then, instead, you end up with a bunch of these items at the front of your regular continue watching queue... as you pointed out here:

1 hour ago, soderlund91 said:

I understand that this could become an issue if several shows—say three or four—appear at the front and Scrubs ends up in fifth place. That’s a valid concern.

 

1 hour ago, soderlund91 said:

An honest question: how do Netflix, Disney+, and similar services handle this?

All of those services are in the business of pushing new content at you constantly.  Their primary goal is to keep your eyeballs on that screen for as long as possible.  So, that is how they are designed.  They always will push new (or, more likely partner sponsored) content at you.

I agree that I'd like to see a way to "give you a nudge" that a new season of a series you're watching has started.  This is exactly why I implemented the "Season Premiere" row in the TV app and it works great for me.  I understand it might not for others.

[soderlund91 50]

23 hours ago, ebr said:

Right, but that's only in that one instance when that new item comes in.  My point is that situation occurs much less often than you watching the next episode in line with a season.  IOW there are a lot fewer new season premieres than there are other episodes.

But, if we don't separate them then, instead, you end up with a bunch of these items at the front of your regular continue watching queue... as you pointed out here:

 

Yeah, I think it goes both ways. As you mentioned yourself, it won’t be very common to have new releases, so in most cases it will only be one title appearing first—maybe two.

I don’t really see that as an issue. If you just keep watching what you were watching before (one or two clicks away on the remote), the new season or episode will quickly move further down the list. And you can always use Remove from Continue Watching, but at least then I’ve made an intentional choice and know in the back of my mind that there is a new episode for that show.

  

23 hours ago, ebr said:

I agree that I'd like to see a way to "give you a nudge" that a new season of a series you're watching has started.  This is exactly why I implemented the "Season Premiere" row in the TV app and it works great for me.  I understand it might not for others.

I get the feeling that your mind may already be set on not doing it the way I (and a few others) would prefer. So if we could at least get Season Premieres rolled out broadly across the server and apps, I would really appreciate that — especially if it’s already implemented, as it doesn’t sound like a huge effort then. 

Ideally, the best solution would be a toggle, either server-wide or per user, that allows new premieres (both seasons and individual episodes) to appear in Continue Watching, and/or a toggle to enable or disable the Season Premieres row.

Anyhow, it seems like we both feel there is a need to adress this question, and im glad you are with me on that at least  

. 

[ebr 16169]

16 hours ago, soderlund91 said:

I get the feeling that your mind may already be set on not doing it the way I (and a few others) would prefer

I would want us to do this the way the majority of users felt it was the most beneficial - regardless of my personal use.

The past month or so I had four or five new premieres in my "Season Premiere" row.  For me, personally, I don't start watching series when they first premiere.  This is because I don't like waiting a week for the next episode.  So I wait until the season is at least 50% out before I start watching.  This is why the separate row works well for me - because they are still there, but not in the way.  Others may not have the same viewing habit so may not work as well.

In any case, I don't think the overall sorting logic of CW should be changed.  Instead, I believe some sort of "extra" intelligence should be added to it that will bring new season premieres to the forefront (in whatever manner).

[CBers 7450]

5 minutes ago, ebr said:

The past month or so I had four or five new premieres in my "Season Premiere" row.  For me, personally, I don't start watching series when they first premiere.  This is because I don't like waiting a week for the next episode.  So I wait until the season is at least 50% out before I start watching.  This is why the separate row works well for me - because they are still there, but not in the way.  Others may not have the same viewing habit so may not work as well.

That is why I have never used the "Season Premiere" row.

I prefer to take my season premieres from the New Media row, mainly due to the fact that I delete previous seasons of the same show (personal use).

I haven't found any issues with not using the "Season Premiere" row in all the time I have been using the ATV app.

As you say though, everyone comsumes their media in different ways.

Are you going to ask Luke to add a "Season Premiere" row (or it's replacement) to the Universal Android app?
 

[soderlund91 50]

7 hours ago, CBers said:

Are you going to ask Luke to add a "Season Premiere" row (or it's replacement) to the Universal Android app?
 

If we could do this, it would be a good start. As long as it’s optional, I don’t see an issue for those who don’t want to use it. From there, it could be developed further.

Maybe this could be solved using smart playlists and pinned collections, which are already in progress? (I believe the former plugin allowed something like this, though I’m not entirely sure.)

 

[crusher11 1100]

On 1/14/2026 at 7:04 AM, ebr said:

 My point is that situation occurs much less often than you watching the next episode in line with a season.  IOW there are a lot fewer new season premieres than there are other episodes...But, if we don't separate them then, instead, you end up with a bunch of these items at the front of your regular continue watching queue

Either there aren't enough new episodes to make this worthwhile, or there are too many to make it usable, it can't be both.

 

On 1/15/2026 at 11:15 PM, ebr said:

For me, personally, I don't start watching series when they first premiere.  This is because I don't like waiting a week for the next episode.

Okay, now imagine you watch episodes as they air. You're watching four or five shows this way, one episode per week, exactly how TV used to work.

Pretty sure you'd want new episodes to pop to the front of Continue Watching.