Binging is the new normal for American viewers.
The act of consuming multiple episodes or seasons of a show on demand has been deemed ‘binge watching’. It’s become such a popular way to watch that it has become preferred over the traditional episode per week format. It’s become so popular in fact, that 58% of all Americans said they’ve binge watched, according to new data from YouGov Omnibus. Of that number, 72% now say they prefer it as their regular means of consuming TV entertainment.
Binge watchers were split on their reasons for preferring to consume as much of a show at once as possible. According to respondents, the suspense of waiting a week to find out what happens drives 48% to binge watch. The fear of spoilers also made a mark on 28% of respondents. The most popular reason for the binge: seeing the whole story at once (59%).
As for how binge watching makes Americans feel when the binge ends, ‘happy’ and ‘fulfilled’ were the two most popular answers with 31% and 29% respectively. Only 9% said they felt ‘unhealthy’ after binging a TV series.
