If you frequently find yourself binge watching TV shows, take solace in knowing you're not alone.
Seventy percent of US consumers engage in marathon TV-watching sessions, devouring an average of five episodes per sitting, according to a new survey by consulting firm Deloitte. The 10th annual Digital Democracy Survey also found that nearly half of all US consumers subscribe to a streaming movie service -- the highest level in the survey's history.
The survey's results, released Wednesday, underscore shifting tastes in how people watch TV. Increasingly, consumers are shedding their cable and satellite TV packages and opting for video found online or through streaming-media boxes such as Roku and Apple TV.
"The survey data indicates that consumers are more willing than ever to invest in services to watch whenever, wherever and on whatever device they choose," Gerald Belson, Deloitte vice chairman and US media and entertainment sector leader, said in a statement.
Deloitte found that nearly a third of us binge watch TV on a weekly basis, and that 53 percent of those consumers who do binge watch are more often in the mood for dramas.
(Score: 2) by butthurt on Friday March 25 2016, @10:11PM
The longer we watch it, the shorter our attention spans become?
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2004-04-05-tv-bottomstrip_x.htm [usatoday.com]
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/study-too-much-tv-games-for-kids-shorter-attention-span/article560503/ [theglobeandmail.com]
or is that a myth?
https://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/tv-doesn-shorten-children-attention-span-small-study-article-1.1933411 [nydailynews.com]
http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2013/nov/05/digital-distractions-attention-spans-tv-series [theguardian.com]
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Saturday March 26 2016, @06:19AM
I guess it depends on the type of TV you watch. If it's the type of TV with ad breaks every 5 minutes and frequent change of topic, you're trained to have a correspondingly short attention span. OTOH keeping at the same topic for longer time and having half an hour without interruption will train your attention span for that.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 25 2016, @10:16PM
No.
(Score: 3, Funny) by bob_super on Friday March 25 2016, @11:18PM
TV? No.
Porn? Damn you, tabbed browsing!!!
(Score: 3, Interesting) by hendrikboom on Friday March 25 2016, @10:27PM
No.
Dramatic TV shows were originally made assuming there would be, say, a week between episodes, during which you could reflect on the events. Watching them in rapid succession is not what they were designed for by the creator.
That may be different for current shows which are made for netflix, knowing that they will be binge-watched.
In any case, I don't have that kind of time available.
-- hendrik
(Score: 3, Interesting) by takyon on Friday March 25 2016, @11:48PM
Some dramatic shows made "before" binge watching are actually said to have high compatibility with the binge watching "format".
Case in point: Arrested Development. Cult classic, award winning, but not a ratings success for Fox. It has a lot of continuity and running jokes that lend itself to binge watching, but could be intimidating, confusing, or just plain missed by a causal viewer. It's no shock that it was brought back on Netflix, and released in its entirety on one day.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by frojack on Saturday March 26 2016, @03:49AM
While arguing about the minutia, everyone misses this:
Seventy percent of US consumers engage in marathon TV-watching sessions, an average of five episodes per sitting
I call bullshit!
70% of consumers definitely do not binge watch.
If they did, I'd probably know at least one such person. 70% is a boat load of people, sitting around for 5 hours at a time watching the same show.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by takyon on Saturday March 26 2016, @04:23AM
Yeah, well, drop that down to 22 minutes x 5, and you're talking about 1 hour and 50 minutes (Netflix or torrents don't include ad time). A full 44 minute episode x 5 is 3 hours and 40 minutes.
Anyone who answered affirmatively to that survey question could have done it just once, on some weekend, during a thunderstorm, who knows.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by acp_sn on Friday March 25 2016, @11:21PM
but I do have an hour or 2 every other night....so that comes out to roughly a season a month
the exception being shows that are really good where I'll make it a point to schedule an hour to watch them soon after they come out (game of thrones, black sails)
(Score: 2) by Snotnose on Friday March 25 2016, @11:23PM
I binge watch 2 ways. First, I get DVDs of shows like Game of Thrones from the library and I've only got them for a week. So I'll watch 2-3 a night until it's done.
The second way is to let shows stack up on my DVR, then watch 'em 3-4 at a time. I can only watch TV for maybe 2-3 hours a night before MEGO sets in, I don't understand those who spend hours at a time watching a show.
Relationship status: Available for curbside pickup.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 25 2016, @11:38PM
binge watching is not a new normal for me. it's been the normal for me for about 15 years now. originally i became interested in anime because of series like gundam wing that were shown on toonami in the 90s. episodic plots have always been an irritation for me, so i pretty much gave up tv at that point.
i'm glad to see that western shows have caught on and are now starting to have season-long plot arcs and sometimes multiseason plot arcs. the roommate and i binge watched the first half of better call saul's 2nd season last weekend.
then again, i'm not a normal person. i consider watching the director's cut of the lord of the rings (all three movies) to be something to do on a rainy day.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by hemocyanin on Saturday March 26 2016, @02:51AM
Same here -- not the anime but the binge watching. I had no TV service, neither broadcast nor cable, hooked up to my TV from 1992 till about 2001 or 2002. I did have a VCR and later a DVD player, now just a roku and apple TV -- anyway, when I got a netflix account and then proceeded to work through all of the Star Treks I had missed, in order without commercial breaks, I discovered that that is the only way I like to watch TV. I don't sit down to TV just for something random -- I like to find a good show with a continuous story and just watch that one thing till I'm done. If I don't have something like that, I tend to not watch at all.
(Score: 2) by tibman on Saturday March 26 2016, @06:40AM
Same here. I may watch an hour a week until discovering a new show and binge watch it. Recently finished the first season of the Expanse in under a week, great sci-fi show.
SN won't survive on lurkers alone. Write comments.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by jasassin on Friday March 25 2016, @11:48PM
Without commercials you can watch at least twice (maybe more than three times) the amount of show in the same amount of time. With no interruptions you can watch more and follow the story easier. On TV more than once after about 10 minutes of commercials I have literally asked "What were we watching?". Cable and ads are on the way out. Though, I'm not sure if TV is as bad as the DVDs that make you watch a minute copyright warning and then 15 minutes of previews (you cant skip) before the movie plays.
Netflix seems to be the way to go.
jasassin@gmail.com GPG Key ID: 0x663EB663D1E7F223
(Score: 2) by mhajicek on Saturday March 26 2016, @12:30AM
Cable got greedy by adding ads back in. People don't want to pay to watch ads, and since there are alternatives cable looses. They could probably retain much more of the market without the ads.
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 2) by jasassin on Saturday March 26 2016, @03:13AM
Its even worse. Where I live (the land is in a basin) I can only get two channels with an antenna. So we are paying for the limited package with only over the air local channels. Of course these channels rely on advertising, so no hope of no commercials. Oh well, at least I get Maury to tell me "Leroy... You are NOT the father!".
jasassin@gmail.com GPG Key ID: 0x663EB663D1E7F223
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 26 2016, @05:09AM
I am not gonna pay premium price for shows full of ads no more than I will pay premium price for ground beef with sand filler in it.
Stuff like that only makes me look for alternatives, and I really don't care what the MPAA thinks of my choice.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 26 2016, @12:10AM
First define "normal" then explain why you would attempt to redefine it with a modifier!
Is "New Normal" a phrase with a conformist agenda? Well fuck that!
(Score: 2) by ticho on Saturday March 26 2016, @12:14AM
Binge watching is the new black.
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Saturday March 26 2016, @06:40PM
Well, "normal" means at a right angle to the surface. A new normal would mean that the surface changed.
For binge watching, the surface is obviously the screen. It's a new normal if you are sitting in front of a different screen.
SCNR :-)
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 2) by ese002 on Saturday March 26 2016, @01:12AM
I seldom watch TV at all except for the the wind down time before I doze off. An hour is too long. 15-20 minutes is typical. I watch for as long as I want to, hit pause and pick it up again another night.
(Score: 2) by goodie on Saturday March 26 2016, @01:46AM
Yep, for me that's usually an episode of something funny like Family Guy. Before we had kids we used to watch quite a bit of tv, even had cable. Now we have netflix and haven't watched it ourselves for a while. Usually after I work late I'll just go and watch one episode of Family Guy, American Dad or whatever half pass out through it and then go to bed. At least I don't wake up to phone sex infomercials ;)
(Score: 5, Interesting) by khchung on Saturday March 26 2016, @01:25AM
The real point for watching from streaming sources is to skip the ads, which saves you from a third to half of the time for the more atrocious networks. Of course you won't see this mentioned in the traditional media, as saying "skipping ads" there basically biting the hand that feeds you.
Getting to watch multiple episodes continuously is just a nice added bonus, many well-made series had designed in downtime between episodes anyway, so you get more out of it by stopping after every episode. Although some like to leave cliffhanger at the end, those are best watched continuously.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 26 2016, @02:23AM
I don't even own a TV.
To me: If it's non interactive it is rotting my brain.
(Score: 4, Touché) by jasassin on Saturday March 26 2016, @04:07AM
Never read a book then?
jasassin@gmail.com GPG Key ID: 0x663EB663D1E7F223
(Score: 3, Insightful) by maxwell demon on Saturday March 26 2016, @06:36AM
Brain rot doesn't depend on interactive vs. non-interactive, it depends on whether you engage your brain or not. If you need interactive material to activate your brain, chances are that it is already rotten.
Cookie clicker is interactive, but certainly not very brain stimulating. A recorded science lecture is non-interactive, but can stimulate your brain very much. Of course only if you think about it instead of just passively consuming it.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 2) by shortscreen on Saturday March 26 2016, @09:11AM
I own a TV. It was made in 1989. Works great for playing the NES and stuff.
I don't think that TV's lack of interactivity causes brain rot, it's just the overwhelming mediocrity of the programming itself that does so. I've been avoiding it lately, although last year I did binge watch all 11 episodes of いいひと to keep up my Japanese listening comprehension skills, such as they are.
(Score: 0, Redundant) by tftp on Saturday March 26 2016, @04:03AM
I wonder does binge non-watching count for this discussion? Because that's exactly what I do. Every single day, for 24 hours straight. Beat that!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 26 2016, @06:27AM
I can't really watch tv due to toddler jumping up and down on the laptop when available, but I do binge-read with my nook. well... read 3 mins, fix whatever went wrong with the current playing routine, read for another 3 mins, etc.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 26 2016, @07:26AM
When I split from my gf I started to watch whole series. Now I don't l. I would pay for it but it is not cheap or easy. So. I read books. Game of thrones? Never seen it. They don't want my money.
(Score: 2) by Aiwendil on Saturday March 26 2016, @07:46AM
Not _new_ normal since ca 1999 or when it was when I started to watch shows that isn't aired in my region..
I've noticed that I watch until the available content is depleted - which means that if I get my hands on it a season at the time then I will watch it a season at the time..
(Score: 2) by bitstream on Saturday March 26 2016, @07:47AM
First came the cable cutters..
Then came the junk media choppers..
And then the general bullshit droppers..
Bad habits are hard to let go. There are a lot more positive things to do then watching media junk.
(Score: 2) by isostatic on Saturday March 26 2016, @11:39AM
I see half a dozen copies of this guy so far: http://www.theonion.com/article/area-man-constantly-mentioning-he-doesnt-own-a-tel-429 [theonion.com]