Binge Watching

Binge watching is the practice of watching multiple episodes of a television show, movies in a series, serialized YouTube videos, or any sequence of video media en masse, usually through digital streaming or DVDs. Binge watching has an increasingly popular phenomenon since the launch of Netflix, a video streaming service often used for binging. The term was popularized in 2013 following a decision by Netflix to release entire seasons of television programs rather than releasing episodes individually.

History

The term binge watching first appeared in the late 1990s and can likely be attributed to box sets of television programs. Usage was not popularized until the creation of on demand viewing services and online streaming sites . Companies such as Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime allowed users to watch entire seasons of programs at their leisure by publishing full seasons of television shows, both from popular networks as well as original content. Netflix has offered online streaming since 2007, winning Emmy nominations and awards for its own original shows released in 2013. It has been a worldwide service since 2016 . Hulu launched as a streaming service in 2008 and has also created its own original shows, one of which has been nominated for a Golden Globe . Amazon Video began as Amazon Unbox on TiVo, a service to download videos onto a TiVo . The video service was rebranded as Amazon on Demand, then as Amazon Instant Video in 2011, free to Amazon Prime users and poised to take on Netflix and Hulu . More recently, television networks have begun following this model as well, posting entire seasons of shows on their online platforms. For example, the network Freeform put their entire 10 episode season of the show "Beyond" online and were ready to approve a second season within eight days .

Watching TV vs Binge Watching

In a 2014 Netflix study, 61% of people said that they regularly binge watch, with 73% of people defining binge watching as watching 2-6 episodes of the same television show in one sitting . The Atlantic, however, crowd sourced to define binge watching as watching 4 or more episodes in one sitting, claiming that 2 episodes were too few to describe as a "binge" . One person watched 120 episodes in 4 weeks, which comes to just over 4 episodes per day, while another watched 29 episodes in 2 weeks, or 3.5 episodes per day . The consensus seems to be that somewhere between at least 3 or 4 episodes in one sitting constitutes binge watching and not just watching TV.

Culture

Netflix Binge Pairings

While most people see binge watching as something done by millennials, it is consistent across generations, although more prevalent in ages 18-34 . While watching a few episodes might constitute binge watching, many people will watch an entire series in one or a few sittings. It is then common practice to take a "breather," or a break of at least a day, between shows. The average break size is 3 days. In this break, many people will turn to movies to continue watching something without starting a new show, with these movies often staying within the genre of the show they just finished . Netflix also says that users who finish the first season of a show typically finish that season within a week, needing to watch about two hours a day to do so. The median amount of time to finish any season of a show is four days, demonstrating how quickly the binge watching phenomenon has caught on. The most common shows that are binge watched this quickly fall into the categories of horror, thrillers, or sci-f. People who watch political dramas, irreverent comedies, or historical dramas are more likely to finish a season within six days.

Ethical Implications

Sharing

Sharing account information provides access to more users and thus makes it possible for them to engage in binge watching. Many of these online streaming sites, like Netflix, state in their terms of service that account owners should not share their account information with anyone else, though their interface promotes sharing by allowing users to create multiple profiles on a single account. But the sharing doesn't stop there either, as anyone can watch on any profile once they have the account password. Therefore, when people share passwords for these online streaming sites, it allows multiple people to use one account and watch as much as they want. In order to prevent mass viewing of content on a single account, however, these companies often restrict the number of streams allowed on one account at a single time. Sharing passwords raises many ethical concerns, privacy for example, as anyone with the account password would be able to see everything that each profile on the account has been watching. Furthermore, in July 2016, the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling that deemed sharing passwords a federal crime under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. This affects sharers of passwords on these online streaming sites, though as of yet there has been no indication that companies like Netflix and HBO Go will prosecute users who share passwords .

Net Neutrality

Net neutrality is the concept of all data on the Internet being treated equally, regardless of where it comes from. However, in recent years, companies such as Comcast and Time Warner have been threatening that notion. They have proposed the idea of slowing down Internet speeds and making companies pay a fee for their services to be streamed at a faster speed. This makes it more difficult for startups or smaller companies to be able to break into the streaming service industry. Giants like Netflix and Hulu are able to pay the fee due to their sizes and revenues. Many larger companies, like Facebook and Google, support net neutrality. They argue that the loss of net neutrality would make information no longer free. The removal of net neutrality would limit binge watching television shows to only the largest of streaming providers. However, Netflix has come out in strong support of net neutrality rules and argues that they are important for smaller companies and firms. The company also acknowledges, however, that if these rules were to be repealed, it would have a limited effect on Netflix because the service is immensely popular and would be able to keep its relationship with internet service providers stable. The election of Donald Trump as President also poses questions about the future of net neutrality in the United States. Many Republicans in the FCC are opposed to the current net neutrality regulations and are seeking opportunities to end them. Any significant changes in net neutrality rules could result in a significant impact on services like Netflix, HBO and Hulu.

Binge watching can be distracting and keep people from other tasks that they're supposed to partake in, such as homework or other obligations. While this is not directly a fault of the companies providing binge watching opportunities, this is a potentially negative societal consequence.

Netflix Affordances

Several features of Netflix contribute to the binge watching phenomena. Netflix instantly starts the next episode of a series without any user intervention. Next, the speed at which the content is released raises the urgency of users to keep up with their favorite shows and consequently binge watch. Further, the lack of advertising keeps the users focus on the show. The lack of interruption between episodes keeps the plot fresh in the users mind, playing with elements of curiosity for how the plot will unveil in the next episodes, which creates a greater sense of immersion.

These features have the potential to impact the mental health of viewers. Although only limited research has been done, many binge-watchers report feeling depressed, anxious, or stressed after binge watching. Binge watching has not yet been classified as an addictive behavior, but studies have shown that those who partake have trouble self-regulating their viewing behavior. Although binge watching can also reduced feelings of anxiety and stress, binge watching for this purpose can lead to an increased chance of developing insomnia. Excessive watching of television in general, however, has been associated with an increased risk of obesity and related diseases.