When it comes to binge-watching TV shows, more and more of us like to do it alone

11 months ago

You glance at the clock and suddenly realise that five hours of your Sunday have vanished thanks to that streak of The Walking Dead episodes you just watched. We’ve all done it.

And binge-watching television shows is becoming the most common way to take in our favourite programs, with many also shunning family to do it alone, new figures claim.

Research by telecoms firm ARRIS found that 67% of the UK admits to binge-watching a TV show, with the average person doing so for more than three hours a week. More than half (61%) also choose to do it alone, taking advantage of the increasingly personal nature of many online streaming and catch-up services.

According to ARRIS, data based on downloads of digital boxsets from the Sky TV Store suggested that subscribers will spend nine days watching US comedy Modern Family this winter, and six days watching fantasy drama Game of Thrones. Six percent of those surveyed said they binge-watched every day.

Sandy Howe, senior vice president of global marketing at ARRIS said: “Binge-watching very quickly has grown into a very popular way to consume media, and even more quickly has become a solitary activity. This isn’t just a passing trend in TV; this is the new normal, and it is fundamentally different.”

“Five years ago, if you asked people what ‘watching TV’ looks like, they’d probably describe a family gathered around a TV in the living room at primetime. Today, that paradigm is changing rapidly. Binge-watching gives us a glimpse into a very different future in which ‘primetime’ is whenever consumers want it, for as long as they choose and increasingly, they’re choosing to enjoy it alone.”