New Delhi, Sept. 29 -- Long-format web originals are taking longer to return for new seasons, leading to a loss of audience interest and streaming platforms remaining cautious about renewing them.

According to experts, roughly half of the shows that a large streamer in the US releases in a year are renewed while in India fewer than a third proceed to the second season and very few to the fourth and beyond. Further, gaps between seasons have been getting longer and less predictable, without the tentpole marketing machine that Western platforms build around a wait.

Lust Stories took five years to return for the second season and another three for the third. Paatal Lok resurfaced after five years, and Scam had a three-year gap between seas...