• by Wayne Friedman , April 18, 2013

Binge-viewing continues to climb among those who are watching TV on their own time schedules through time-shifting devices and video-on-demand services.

62% of people who watch TV on their own schedules have watch multiple episodes of TV shows in succession, so-called “binge-viewing."

The Harris Interactive February 2013 study says nearly 80% of U.S. Internet adults have watch TV either by Web-based subscription video on demand services (SVOD) like Hulu, Hulu Plus, or Netflix; via a cable or satellite video-on-demand service (VOD); or through time-shifting devices.

Of these TV consumers, the data notes 41% come from a cable or satellite video-on-demand service; 40% from SVOD services like Hulu and Netflix; and 37% from time-shifting devices and DVDs. Younger TV viewers were more likely to binge-view -- 78% of 18-29s; 73% of 30-9s. All this compared to 58% of 40-54s.

Binge-viewing is found with mostly older seasons of TV shows,not current seasons, says Harris. Some 22% binged on older shows or past seasons of current shows, versus 12% who did so with current seasons of shows.

Another study from MarketCast found similar results from a February 2013 study. Most U.S. TV viewers, 63%, had used an online subscription service (like Netflix) to binge-view TV, while 41% said online subscription services was their No. 1 way of binge viewing.

In this study, while a little more than half of TV viewers said they binged via a network or cable site, only 15% said that was their primary method for binge-viewing. Concerning DVR devices, 44% TV viewers used time-shifting units to binge-viewing, but only 15% said it was their primary method.

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