Binge Watching

Binge watching. Let’s be honest we’ve all done it. “Binge watching” is now observed as a cultural phenomenon and has become popular with the rise of online media streaming services, such as Netflix and Amazon Prime, that allow viewers to watch television shows and movies on demand and commercial free. The term binge watching has been used since the late 1990s when people would watch several episodes of a particular show in a row, usually through DVD sets or TV marathons. In 2013 the term “binge watching” was runner up for Oxford Dictionary’s Word of the Year, coming second to the popular term “selfie”.  The Oxford Dictionary has defined binge watching as “watching multiple episodes of a television program in rapid succession”. The term became mainstream in 2013 when Netflix started releasing episodes of its original programming simultaneously.  In February 2013 Netflix rolled out all 13 episodes of the first season of their original show House of Cards and did the same thing one year later in February 2014 when they released the second season. 

House of Cards
Photo via IMDB

The show has received high praise from fans and critics alike and has earned actor Kevin Spacey a nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a drama series for both an Emmy and Golden Globe award during the 2013-2014 television season. Netflix has a number of their own original series such as House of Cards, Orange is the New Black, and Derek.  When they release their shows online, they do not release one episode a week like a regular on air television program does, they release the entire season, making it very difficult for viewers to stop watching. This is where and how Netflix has made a name for them when it comes to the concept of binge watching

Derek
Photo via IMDB

Orange is the New Black
Photo via IMDB

Netflix executives say they have found a consistent pattern in the pace of which people binge. They say that generally, about half of their viewers that they studied finish a season (up to 22 episodes) within a one-week period. In a survey conducted by Netflix 61 percent of survey participants said that they binge watch regularly. In the same survey 73 percent of people define binge watching as “watching between 2-6 episodes of the same TV show in one sitting”.  As of September 2013 Netflix has a reported 40.4 million global streaming subscribers, 31.2 million being in the United States. Ted Sarandos, the Chief Content Officer of Netflix states that “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”. I too have been guilty of binge watching, whether it is by myself or with friends.  Over summer and winter breaks I find myself with a lot of free time and I take the opportunity to watch television shows that I never had time to watch. I have watched four seasons of the AMC drama Breaking Bad in the matter of about two and half weeks, six seasons of the CBS comedy How I Met Your Mother over the course of only a couple of weeks. 

How I Met Your Mother
Photo via IMDb

Once you have completely finished binge watching your show you find yourself going through withdrawal. You have to wait until Netflix adds the next season of your show to watch new episodes, so you just move on to the next show you end up binge watching.  I have even found myself binge watching a show that I have already binge watched two years ago, with the same group of people. In most cases, especially in mine, people find themselves binge watching a show in order to catch up on the show in order to watch the season that is currently on the air. They do not want other people ruining a show, so they want to catch up with everyone who are able to the current season. With spoilers everywhere, it is almost impossible to go on the internet, or specifically any social media site, and not accidently ruin a show for yourself. For example, this past week, on Monday, “How I Met Your Mother” had their series finale, and if you didn’t watch you were going to find out what happened anyway because it was already all over social media before the episode was even over.

Netflix seems to encourage binge watching behavior, which has now become a social norm in today’s society. When you watch a show on Netflix, Netflix will automatically continue to the next episode, so you don’t have to lift a finger. They will also end up skipping the “previously on [insert show title here]” opening of a show and the theme song as well so you can get right back to watching your shows back to back with absolutely no interruption.  If you watch enough episodes of one show continuously Netflix will eventually ask “Are you still watching” to know whether or not they should continue streaming the show you are watching.

Breaking Bad
Photo via IMDB

Binge watching seems to be a trend mostly among the younger generation but that does not mean the older generation doesn’t binge watch too. Older members of my family have their own Netflix account and find themselves binge watching just like the younger generation. My roommate, who is my frequent binge watching buddy, has also expressed that her parents, who are not the best with technology, find themselves binge watching, that is how simple and easy streaming shows is. A couple weeks ago I got my mother her own Netflix profile on my account after telling her that she should watch the show ABC drama “Scandal”, which I already completely binge watched earlier this year. She’s hooked. She cannot help but watch several episodes in a row because they are available at the touch of a button. She was even upset with me that I didn’t introduce her to Netflix and online streaming sooner.

Scandal
Photo via IMDB

Netflix is the leading force when it comes to streaming shows online, even though you have to pay for a membership, it quickly becomes worth the money. You can even binge watch your favorite show on your phone with the free Netflix application, that you can also get on your tablet, gaming console, and of course on your computer. Apple Inc. is currently in talks with Comcast about teaming up to deliver a new TV streaming service to compete with online streaming companies like Netflix. According to the Wall Street Journal the service would “encompass both traditional cable offerings of live television and on-demand content, which are delivered digitally over Comcast’s Cable television service, as well as access to digital video from the cloud”.  With advances in technology and increases in amount of available show content it seems we will continue binge watching for years to come.