Is there a science behind how fast you finish a TV series?
Netflix recently released a study recently released a study analyzing the television watching habits of users globally and broke down binge watching into two categories: devour or savour.
Binge watching is a term commonly associated with the TV streaming generation, and involves watching copious amounts of television in a short amount of time. Common scenarios of binge watching include eating an excessive amount of chips and finishing a TV series within a fortnight.
Netflix studied the data of over 100 television shows to attempt to determine any existing patterns of the television-watching habits of their consumers worldwide. It was determined that users on average binge-watched for two hours when attempting to finish one season of a series. Interestingly enough, Netflix found patterns in relation to the types of shows that were more likely to be binged depending on TV genre.
Shows deemed most likely to be devoured were series that were viewed for more than two hours, and shows deemed savoury were series that were viewed for less than two hours per session.
TV shows that were most devoured by users were series that fell under thriller, horror, and sci-fi genres such as Breaking Bad, Sons of Anarchy, American Horror Story, The Walking Dead, Orphan Black, and Under the Dome. On average a single season of shows that fell under the devoured category was completed within four days.
Series that fell under the intermediary range between savour-and-devour were genres such as action and adventure, dramatic comedies, and crime dramas such as Outlander, Prison Break, Better Call Saul, The Blacklist, Gotham, and Marvel’s Jessica Jones.
Lastly, series that were most savoured were TV genres such as historical dramas, political dramas, and irreverent comedies including Mad Men, The Americans, House of Cards, The Good Wife, and Arrested Development. On average, a single season of savoury shows were completed within six days.
The data compiled by Netflix tells consumers a lot about TV viewing habits, as well as human psychology. When watching suspenseful shows from genres like thriller, horror, and sci-fi it makes sense that users cannot wait to find out what happens next and end up watching more than two hours of a series to find out what happens after a plot twist. It is interesting that genres such as political dramas, historical dramas, and irreverent comedies are more savoured; something can be said about shows which require viewers to think and appreciate humour. Although this study conducted by Netflix wasn’t entirely scientific due to many confounding variables including: undisclosed sample size, limited access to certain shows depending on licensing, and many uncontrolled variables in terms of length of seasons and episodes watched, the study gives broad insight into how TV is being consumed today.