The end of the easy binge session

It's an annual tradition for many people. They avoid the tedium of watching their favorite DC shows during the regular season, avoiding the weekly grind of having to be at home on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. week-in and week-out.

Instead, they have been satisfied to wait until the next September and reserve the entire weekend to devote to a 22-hour marathon of the show.

But that's coming to an end, according to Jeff Bewkes, the CEO of Time Warner.

According to an Associated Press story, Bewkes told analysts on a conference call Nov. 4 that the company is considering whether to let online services like Netflix have its shows several years after they first air, rather than one year later.

Such a decision would affect the eight DC Comics-based shows currently on the air, from Arrow to Supergirl. Analysts believe the move is to preserve the current cable TV companies, who typically show only the most recent five episodes on their on-demand channel.

Bewkes' comments came in the same quarterly report which included news that the main Turner channels -- CNN, TNT and TBS -- subscriber numbers fell by 1 percent, and that a similar fall is expected next year.

It's a far cry from the days when shows like the 1960s version of Batman were considered Must-See TV every Tuesday and Thursday night ("Same Bat time! Same Bat channel!") The only repeats were during the holidays and the summer. And there was no way to grind out a whole weekend of Batman until they finally released the first DVD set of the show this past year.

There are solutions for cord-cutters, but it will come at a higher cost. Subscriptions to the shows can be purchased and the shows will be delivered weekly, just after they have aired on the network. Just wait until your first free weekend next June to watch them all.

Look at it this way: You won't have to sit through all those commercials.

-- André Hinds ("Evermore") is the audio producer of the ElectricSistaHood podcast and writes weekly about comic books