Streaming platforms, most notably Netflix, have brought to light a new way to enjoy television; binge watching.
Gone are the days of watching a series week by week now that streaming services allow users to view their favourite shows all at once, and Netflix wants to help its subscribers watch smarter and binge better.
Netflix has revealed its Binge Scale, which brings together data from the platform’s vast array of users to determine which shows they’re binge watching and which shows they’re savouring.
Based on global viewing data, Netflix determined that viewers largely prefer to take in irreverent comedies such as Arrested Development, the Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Summer Heights High slowly, at their own pace. On the other end of the scale, thrillers like Breaking Bad, Dexter and The Killing are apparently too much for viewers to wait for, as that genre topped the devour category.
The scale is set up with “savour” on one end and “devour” on the other. Netflix then goes on to list different genres of television as they fair on the Binge Scale. The different genres included in the scale include Irreverent comedies, political dramas, historical dramas, superhero drama, crime dramas, dramatic comedies, actions and adventure, sci-fi, horror and thriller.
“As The Binge Scale indicates, the viewing experience of a series can range from the emotional to the thought-provoking. Netflix helps you to find a series to binge no matter your mood or occasion, and the freedom to watch that series at your own pace – whether that’s to appreciate the drama of Bloodline or power through Orange is the New Black,” said Cindy Holland, vice president of original content at Netflix in a statement sent to MobileSyrup.
To gather the information to produce the Binge Scale, Netflix analyzed over 100 television series in more than 190 countries between October 2015 and May 2016. The research examined member completion of the first season for all series. The global median for completing the first season of a series was five days, while the median hours per session was two hours and ten minutes.
To view a copy of the Netflix Binge Scale, take a look at the image below:
THE NETFLIX BINGE SCALE (Based on global viewing data)
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[source]Netflix[/source]
