TORONTO – Our love affair with binge-viewing popular programming shows no sign of slowing according to new research from Solutions Research Group.
According to a survey of 1,000 Canadians the company conducted in August, almost half (45%) of online Canadians binge-viewed in the past month, averaging 3.8 episodes per session. Respondents reported they love watching on their own schedule, that there are no commercials and they’re happy about not having to wait a week for the next TV show. And the source of all this binging is no surprise: Mostly Netflix.
- Binging (defined as watching two or more episodes in a single sitting) is most popular among the 20-29 age group, where 64% of them report binge-viewing, followed by the 12-19 year olds, at 56%.
- Netflix was named as the source of binge watching for 61% of those respondents, followed by 11% reporting their DVR was the source and 7% their subscription TV VOD platform.
- While 38% of the bingers watched only two episodes in a row, 22% watched three, 14% stopped at four and 26% flattened their posteriors by watching five or more episodes in a row.
- The most popular show binge-watched at the time of the survey was Orange is the New Black (10%) followed by Breaking Bad (6%) and Big Bang Theory (4%). “Other” was the largest segment, as 31% reported binge-watching shows outside the top 45 mentioned by survey respondents.
“The option to watch a catalogue of shows with the flexibility of when, where, and for as long as they have available is a better experience according to viewers,” reads the report, part of SRG’s ongoing, independent Digital Life Canada Series. “They report becoming more immersed in the show and characters as it’s happening in a window of time of their choosing when they can concentrate”
“The sense of immersion in a TV show is greater when you can progress continuously through it. On days where I am not too busy to watch TV, I can commit more time to sitting TV in one sitting. It doesn't feel like I'm wasting time watching things I don't want to watch,” one respondent is quoted as saying.
“Allows me to better follow the program drama and catch up on back episodes I may of missed,” said another.
“It is nice to avoid commercials and to have the freedom to watch episodes back to back without having to wait for the new one to come out. No cliff-hangers!” added another survey respondent.
