Netflix released results from a recent survey that said 61% of its subscribers binge watch TV shows on a regular basis. What exactly is “binge watching”? According to the same survey, it says that binge watching is considered to be watching 2-6 episodes of the same TV show during one sitting. I think 61% sounds low because I don’t know anybody that hasn’t watched multiple episodes of a show in one sitting on Netflix.
So, while binge watching is becoming the newest buzz term, it made me wonder if it is really all that new? It’s not uncommon for a show to have a marathon showing on cable. Heck, I watch multiple episodes of sitcoms in syndication all the time and have for as many years as I can remember. There was one time when I was younger that I was having a panic attack, first and only time that has ever happened. I managed to calm myself down because there was an all day Munsters marathon on TV that I ended up watching. The show helped me forget about whatever triggered the attack and it still holds a special place because of it.
I think the current trend really started when full seasons of TV shows started hitting DVD. For the first time we could watch a show on our own schedule. I remember picking up the first season of 24 when Best Buy had it really cheap. I had never watched the show, but thought I would give it a try. My wife and I watched that whole first season in a weekend. It was addictive and I could not wait to watch the next episode. That is how I binge watched older TV shows until Netflix came along.
I’ve been a Netflix streaming customer since they first started offering it, but my first time I binge watched a show was Doctor Who. I had not seen any of Eccleston’s episodes and only a few of Tennant’s when Netflix started showing them. I was home sick in bed and decided to start watching Season 1 and I didn’t stop. I watched every episode I could over the next two days and I was hooked.
My experience watching 24 on DVD and Doctor Who on Netflix seems to really identify the reason for binge watching. It’s addictive. It makes us feel good and gives us instant gratification. How many times have you been frustrated by a cliffhanger and it just drove you mad? I remember watching Star Trek: TNG and the season 3 cliffhanger, The Best of Both Worlds, ended with Riker ordering the Enterprise to fire on Picard/Locutus and the music crescendoed and “to be continued”. Argh!!! It burrowed into my brain for months until season 4 came on. People watching the show on Netflix don’t have that problem. They can scratch that itch immediately.
Okay, so binge watching really isn’t all that new. At least not for me. Why is it getting so much publicity now? Well, technology has advanced to the point where we can watch our favorite shows whenever we want. I have Netflix on my phone, tablet, computer, PS4, SmartTV, Bluray player, AppleTV, Chromecast and coming soon the fridge and toaster. Along with Netflix, there is Hulu and streaming apps from most broadcast companies. DirecTV, Dish and several cable companies have apps that allow you to stream live broadcasts and On Demand programs. We are living in a binge watchers utopia right now. Netflix has known this for a while and they didn’t need a survey to show it. They have tons of data that shows what we watch, how many episodes at a time, and whether we complete the whole series or not. That data is gold. Many of their original shows have been very popular. Is that a fluke? No, I think Netflix was smart to use the plethora of data at their disposal to create shows that they knew we would like. By doing that, and releasing the entire season at once, they are giving us the television version of a buffet and we are eating it up. This also works to the major broadcast and cable networks advantage too. Breaking Bad became more popular as it went along and they have attributed that to binge watching on Netflix. That drove more eyes to the new broadcast episodes.
The ball is rolling and I don’t think it will be stopping anytime soon. Has technology and the ease of consumption changed how you watch TV? What shows do you binge watch?
