Never-mind The Re-wind: The Effects of Binge-Watching Through Streaming Services

By Sarah Parsons

The cast of AMC's Mad Men. My current binge-watching addiction.

  According to TIME magazine, your binge-watching may have negative effects on your health

Binge-watching; The new vice of global entertainment?

If you have Hulu, Amazon Instant or Netflix, chances are you have perused their selections and happened upon a TV show that you could. not. stop. watching. Binge-watching TV shows on these instant streaming services has become wildly popular with its subscribers. Many users are able to find TV shows which they can finish in a week or a day, depending on how invested you/they are. Although this is seemingly great for the consumers, having all the episodes readily available for them to either finish a series or catch up until more have been released, what kind of impact does it have on our emotional and mental health? According to the TIME article, there are potentially increased risks of diabetes attributed to consuming too many unhealthy snacks and sitting around without getting proper exercise. Of course, anything anyone does that involves inactivity can cause major health issues. It's pretty much a no-brainer when you think about how many people binge-watch their favorite TV shows, obviously they most likely do it sitting or laying down in a comfortable position. What I'm more interested in, is what does it do to entertainment?

The Binge-watcher Killed The TV Star?

And by TV star, I mean specifically network executives. How does binge-watching through these streaming services effect the way in which TV shows are consumed by the general population? Before instant streaming, TV networks would debut shows each week by having new weekly episodes air. By doing this, it would "generally" work in the network's favor; they could decide whether the show was generating enough ratings to continue to air or pull it altogether and put production time and money into another show to generate more ratings and more money. Before instant streaming, this model worked. We as an audience didn't know any better and although it was frustrating having to wait week-by-week for our favorite show to air a new episode, we came back in droves and that is what the network wants; loyalty. Having the consumers tune in each week and generate revenue worked for a successful business model. But now that has all changed. 

Does This Change Entertainment?

Well, yes and no. Binge-watching is a new way in which we consume TV. It is a migration that is adapting to the benefits of new media and having many things on demand. I feel that binge-watching doesn't ruin TV shows for the consumer. Having that catalog available instantly is more enjoyable for the user. Many people, like me, do not have a cable subscription and opt out in favor of services like Hulu and Netflix. This gives me the option to choose when and how I see my favorite TV shows and movies. I do not have the time to record my favorite shows when they premiere, let alone make the time for them when they do premiere. Netflix, the service I have, gives me that option. I feel that I can sit, uninterrupted, and enjoy my shows from start to finish. I also found out that I am able to be more comprehensive of the plot of the shows I am binge-watching, something I am usually not when I have to patiently wait for these shows to premiere. I feel like binge-watching lets the viewer be their own gate-keeper to their chosen media, a powerful option when you are TV/film buff like myself. Does binge-watching spoil the fruits of the laborer? Are we given too much to enjoy it too quickly and then forgotten too soon? I don't feel that way either. Nostalgia is there for that. When we hear about TV shows that we've seen, having that ability to go back and re-watch generates more viewership and word-of-mouth plays a role too, where friends will recommend other friends to watch shows they've selected for them (an option now on Netflix is the ability to connect to your Facebook and recommend other friends TV shows and films, which is a smart move on both parties' end). In essence, what this means to me, is that TV shows or any other media that can be consumed by binge-watching, needs to be more on its toes as far as content. Viewers will have all access to these shows and they need to be engaging. This could ultimately change the way in which content within these shows are being delegated and that is what I am most interested in seeing. The power of binge-watching can potentially shape the way in which we view our media in many ways.