Binge-watching
Binge-watching (also called binge-viewing) is the practice of watching entertainment or informational content for a prolonged time span, usually a single television show.
In a survey conducted by Netflix in February 2014, 73% of people define binge-watching as "watching between 2–6 episodes of the same TV show in one sitting".
[1] Recent research based on video-on-demand data from major US video streaming providers shows that over 64% of the customers binged-watched once during a year.
[2] The first uses of "binge" in reference to television appeared in Variety under the byline of TV industry reporter George Rosen, in 1948, according to archival research by media scholar Emil Steiner.
Sports editor Ed Danforth used the term to describe a Bob Hope–Bing Crosby telethon to raise money for the U.S. Olympic team.
An October 1970 Vogue trendspotting feature described how people were talking about "the television binge of sports with more networks finding live action healthier than canned plots.
"[7] The first printed usage of the term "binge viewing" appeared in a December, 1986 Philadelphia Inquirer last-minute Christmas list by TV Critic Andy Wickstrom who suggested Scotch tape to mend worn VCR tape if "you're a confirmed weekday time-shifter, saving up the soap operas for weekend binge viewing."
He claimed that high-quality stories will retain audience's attention for hours on end, and may reduce piracy,[17] although millions still download content illegally.
One study found quite the opposite, reporting that heavy binge-watchers spent more time in interactions with friends and family on a daily basis than non-binge-watchers.
[21] Research by Alessandro Gabbiadini et al. explores psychological factors contributing to binge-watching, highlighting loneliness, escapism, and identification with media characters as key motivators.
The study suggests that viewers turn to extended series consumption as a means of escaping negative emotions or forging parasocial relationships with characters.
These tendencies are amplified by the episodic nature of series, which facilitates prolonged engagement and emotional investment, distinguishing binge-watching from traditional film-viewing experiences.
[23] Research conducted at the University of Texas at Austin found binge watching television is correlated with depression, loneliness, self-regulation deficiency, and obesity.
[26] These findings were problematized by Pittman and Steiner (2019), who found that "the degree to which an individual pays attention to a show may either increase or decrease subsequent regret, depending on the motivation for binge-watching.
"[27] Research conducted by media scholar Dr. Emil Steiner, Ph.D., at Rowan University isolated five motivations for binge-watching (catching up, relaxation, sense of completion, cultural inclusion, and improved viewing experience).
"The survey (N = 800) determined that the degree to which an individual pays attention to a show may either increase or decrease subsequent regret, depending on the motivation for binge-watching.
Their subsequent research (Pittman and Steiner, 2021) found that viewers who planned their binge-watching ahead of time were more likely to choose shows that aligned with their motives for watching — relaxing comedies, riveting dramas, nostalgic favorites.
[38] Mareike Jenner makes note of streaming services like Netflix using algorithms to recommend relevant content to viewers.
Kendall emphasizes that lockdown has heightened the need to get back into a rhythm as quarantine has left people feeling uncertain about how they should organize their day.
[35] Binge watching can be related to Zillmann's Mood Management Theory, which may account binge-watching as an emotional regulation process.
Binge-watching may create feelings of regret, which may extending into the early hours of the morning, impacting on sleep and the day ahead.
Both of these come with warning signs such as, "loss of self-control, urgency, regret, neglect of duties, negative social and health consequences, lying, or even symptoms of withdrawal such as anxiety, nervousness, rage, and concentration difficulties.
[51] Lee Rainie of the Pew Research Center stated that: "Although watching television shows or movies on cable is becoming less and less common in our generation,[52] several studies have come out discussing the effects that fast food advertising has especially on the younger audience.
A study on the "Receptivity to television fast-food restaurant marketing and obesity among U.S youth"[53] studied the extent to which fast food advertisements have played a role in the rates of obesity in the United States, where the results found that there was a significant correlation between increased viewing time and receptivity to fast food marketing.
There is, of course, a significant ethical concern when it comes to the tailoring of fast food marketing towards children and adolescents as it comprises their health, as many studies have shown.
