Binge-watcher? Netflix-backed study shows you're in good company.
We binge watch and we don't feel the least bit bad about it.
That's the takeaway of a new survey, conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of Netflix. According to Harris, which surveyed 1,500 "regular" TV streamers – here defined as streaming a TV show once a week, at least – 61 percent of viewers copped to participating in a binge-watching escapade at least once a week, and a full 73 percent say that they have a "positive" feeling toward all that TV.
Some other interesting data from the survey: Roughly a third of all binge-watchers do it solo, while the majority – 51 percent – prefer to binge with a pal. And 80 percent – ourselves included! – would much rather "stream a good TV show than read a friend's social media posts." Meanwhile, the majority of respondents defined binge-watching as taking in 2 to 6 episodes in a single setting.
"Our viewing data shows that the majority of streamers would actually prefer to have a whole season of a show available to watch at their own pace," Ted Sarandos, Chief Content Officer of Netflix, said in a press release today. He added that Netflix original series, such as Orange is the New Black, "are created for multi-episodic viewing, lining up the content with new norms of viewer control for the first time."
In related news, although editors at Oxford named "selfie" the word of the year, "binge-watch" was reportedly a close second.
"Mindless couch-potato behaviour aside, it’s something that traditional broadcasters should be watching closely, and no doubt are, as [couch] potatoes like me get hooked on a series available on Netflix or elsewhere online, or make repeated trips for DVD rentals," Michael Babad of the Globe and Mail writes in a column this week on the binge-watching phenomenon. "Though, yes, occasionally there’s pay-per-view, as well."
