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Binge-viewing is the new black

What are the trends amongst binge viewers and just how they are watching TV?

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2013-03-09_1709We’ve all done it.

We’ve all had our own marathon session with our favourite show. A chance to catch up with what we’ve missed. An opportunity to check out what everybody else has been raving about. Or a weekend where we planned to just watch one or two episodes but got sucked into its vortex.

Binge viewing has been on the rise, in part because of network programming, or because of the power of PVRs and online giving viewers more flexibility.

US research group MarketCast has surveyed 1,000-plus viewers to identify trends that are associated with binge viewing.

There’s little doubt that despite the Pacific divide, there are plenty of similarities with our own binge viewing:

  • Binge-viewers can be separated into four groups of viewers fairly evenly: Those who watch series when sick or stuck at home from an injury; those who refuse to wait a week to see what happens next on a show; individuals who watch a series because others tell them they’re missing out; and those who want to revisit TV shows they’ve already seen before.
  • The top three reasons given for bingeing are to watch a series an individual missed all or part of when it aired in the first place; to save time and avoid commercials, and to avoid having to wait to see what happens next on a favorite show.
  • Around 48% of binge viewers strongly agree that bingeing gets them caught up on series they missed and makes them excited to watch new episodes when they air.
  • Binge-viewing is gender neutral, but men under 30 are the segment most likely to say they binge-watch exclusively.
  • Bingeing isn’t a social activity: Most binge viewers (or 56%) prefer to do it on their own, alone, with 98% doing so at home. The rest is done while on vacation (16%) or traveling on an airplane (13%).
  • Curiously, most binge-viewing is done accidentally, with 71% saying they meant to watch just an episode or two and then wound up watching more.
  • Around 60% of binge viewers say they will increase their binge-viewing in the future, and 86% say that binge-viewing is a major change in how people watch TV and is becoming more mainstream.
  • Bingeing occurs more online than offline, with 58% done so through a streaming service, compared to 42% while watching a TV network. The rest is split up among a network or cable channel’s website, through DVRs and DVD or Blu-ray box sets.
  • And binge viewers feel that dramas are best suited for bingeing (at 60%), followed by comedies (45%), actioners (31%), reality shows (26%) and animated fare (15%).
  • 67% of Americans 13-49 claim to have had a binge-watching experience.

Source: Variety

21 Responses

  1. @Leppie , I am the same with either Friends, Seinfeld, Frasier and The Gilmore Girls usually a couple of these a year. I only intend to watch episodes in a few episode batches and find myself putting in the next DVD.

  2. This happens for us most often when shows conflict with on another. For example, last year we recorded the entire Good Wife season and watched it over summer when the TV landscape is barren.

  3. I regularily do this with many shows. Game of Thrones season 1 being one of which I watched all eps of a row. I’m currently doing this with Body of Proof season 2.

  5. I dont binge view, my daughter does though I bought White Collar series one for Christmas, by Boxing day she was buying Season two and watched all episodes in one viewing.

    I tend to keep them for the same time every week so that I can do my own programming.

    I will often keep episodes for a week as a treat for next week.

  6. I can’t watch shows on my computer, so usually watch on TV and tape stuff to watch later if there is too much on at the same time.

    I’ve heard of Happily Divorced, it sounds like a good show. I’ve been hoping we would get it here, don’t know why none of our networks have picked it up.

  7. I don’t mind double episodes and will often watch two episodes when watching shows on DVD. But that’s about as much as I want to watch at one time though.

    I recorded the Mad Men S4 Marathon on Movie Extra and it took me a month to watch them all.

  9. I do this often.

    When I first heard about True Blood, I literaly watched the entire series that had been releaased so far within a week. Same thing happened with Mrs Browns Boys… and Happily Divorced. I got way too much spare time, perhaps.

    Also, I usually binge on the complete series of Friends at least once a year… haha.

    @Mr. J, usually because for some shows, they can become instantly addictive, lol.

  11. I watched House of Cards (yes I found a way to watch Netflix) and binged all 13 episodes in one day. If it’s available then why not. On another note I could see an AA meetings type scenario here. Hello I’m Daran and I’m a binge TV watcher

  12. It’s common amongst my group of friends and family every few months or so to swap whole hard disks of shows to watch whole series of shows.

    These are generally older shows though, not shows currently producing new episodes on TV.

  13. Hi, my name is John and I have binged in the past
    At the age of 14 I binged from midnight to 6am on four 3 Stooges movies that were on Channel 9 one Friday night
    I’ve also binged on Halloween and Friday the 13th

  14. Really interesting article. Personally, I binge watch reality tv shows such as the Block on weekends simply because I’m too busy to watch it throughout my week. In saying that, I’m that kind of person where I let the series take its course and watch it all in one go. It’s more interesting in that way to me.

  15. Just got back from a weeks a holiday and watched a weeks Block and MKR. Was great fast forwarding the catch up bits and ads, but with the news covering the contestants and the constant promos only obscure series can be ‘binged’. Currently recording the Amazing Race for a session!

  16. Two weeks ago I watched all four seasons of Breaking Bad (on Blu-Ray, of course) over a long weekend. That’s about 40 hours of TV in three days. Exhausting but exhilarating. Next up is The Sopranos…

  17. I find it odd that torrents/illegal downloading aren’t mentioned in the survey. Though playback services (eg: Plus7, iView) are becoming more popular, I’d imagine there’s a large percentage of ‘binge’ viewers who download ‘old’ programs and/or episodes to watch in their own time.

  18. My boyfriend and I once dedicated a long weekend to all three seasons of Blackwood. It was an interesting (read; soul destroying) experience.

    These days I only have the time to passively binge, putting on brit-coms when I’m doing the housework. I can dedicate half of my attention to it for 3 hours without needing to swap discs.

  19. I love saving some show I like but just don’t have the time for then watch 3-4 eps in a row FF through the ads then wondering why I didn’t watch them sooner and remembering how good the show is. Only problem for ratings (if you have a box) is I might do this weeks or months after they air, heck I still have some things on my PVR from 2011!

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