GfK MRI research characterizes “binge viewing” as TV viewers who regularly watched three or more episodes of the same show in one sitting — from streaming, time-shifted viewing/DVR, video-on-demand or scheduled TV marathons.
The survey says regular binge viewing includes 14% who “usually” binge all or most of the time, 18% who “frequently” binge more than half the time, and 25% who “sometimes” binge about half the time.
How do viewers feel about binging? Pretty good.
Some 73% of regular bingers report having a positive view of their binging; 77% say it is “so fun to binge watch, I have a hard time stopping”, and 48% feel that binge viewing keeps them “up to date/in the know.”
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Data shows all this binge viewing is good for TV networks looking to get viewers to sample new shows: 41% of regular bingers say TV shows “they have never seen” occupy most of their binge viewing time, compared to 35% for “old favorite” programs. Farther down the list: Original shows from new streaming services -- only 22% do this binging.
Demographically, Millennials maintain their top spot among bingers, with 53% saying that they are regular bingers.
Not surprisingly, streaming services are the main conduits for binge viewing. Streaming services are the most active platforms to binge -- 66%. For millennials is number is 81%.
That reminds me. This weekend I think I'll binge watch 200 episodes of "Gunsmoke".
Exactly, Kevin. And once respondents think it's fashionable to claim to be doing the new thing they start to say that they are doing it more than before----which feeds the PR and trade press feeding frenzy.