Binge-watching
The first reported use of the term binge-watch was in 2003. However, the concept of watching multiple episodes of a show in one sitting gained wide popularity in 2013, when Netflix released all 13 episodes in the first season of the hit political series House of Cards at one time, instead of posting an episode per week, marking a new era of binge-watching streaming content. In 2015 binge-watch was declared the word of the year by Collins English Dictionary, which said that use of the term had increased 200% in the prior year. [1][2][3]
By 2017, 73% of Americans admitted to binge-watching, with the average binge lasting three hours and eight minutes. Some 90% of Millennials (born between 1981 and 1996) and 87% of Gen Z (born during the late 1990s and early 2000s) stated that they binge-watch, and 40% of those age groups binge-watched an average of six episodes of television in one sitting. [4][5]
The coronavirus pandemic of 2020 led to a sharp increase in binge-viewing. HBO, for example, saw a 65% jump in subscribers watching three or more episodes in a row starting on Mar. 14, 2020, about the time when many states implemented stay-at-home measures to slow the spread of COVID-19. [28]
By 2024 some 70% of Americans were still binge-watching, averaging five episodes of a show in one sitting, but the age group most likely to binge-watch was not teenagers, as many suspected. The most binge-busy group were adults aged 30–44, of whom 70% admitted to binge-watching, followed by 18- to 29-year-olds (69%), 45- to 64-year-olds (62%), and teens aged 13–17 (60%). [31]
However, between 2023 and 2025, many streaming services reverted to dropping one episode of a show per week, to the outrage of dedicated bingers and to the delight of others. This new method of media viewing was dubbed “stinge-watching,” which is when episodes are rationed. [35][37]
So, is binge-watching good for you? Explore the debate below.
Pros and Cons at a Glance
| PROS | CONS |
|---|---|
| Pro 1: Binge-watching establishes beneficial social connections. Read More. | Con 1: Binge-watching leads to mental health issues. Read More. |
| Pro 2: Binge-watching has health benefits such as stress relief. Read More. | Con 2: Binge-watching can cause serious physical health problems. Read More. |
| Pro 3: Binge-watching makes a show more fulfilling. Read More. | Con 3: Binge-watching makes the show less fulfilling. Read More. |
Pro Arguments
(Go to Con Arguments)Pro 1: Binge-watching establishes beneficial social connections.
Binging fosters a sense of community around a show, something experts call a “shared cultural space.” This common ground allows viewers to discuss and enjoy the show with everyone from a coworker to the stranger in line at the grocery store. This shared space makes it easier to relate to other people and share personal perspectives. [6][7][8]
Romantic relationships can also be strengthened by binge-watching together, because it serves as a fun activity that creates a shared interest and offers an easy way to spend time together. Licensed professional counselor Heidi McBain said that “if both people are partaking without distractions, laughing together, holding hands…quality time is being fostered.”[9]
A study published in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships found that binge-watching can help long-distance relationships by replacing shared activities such as going to dinner together and having mutual friends.[10]
According to a 2024 study, “binge-watching goes against this typical notion that it is something that results from a lack of self-control. When we think of the word [binge], we think of problematic impulsive behavior that you do not have control over like binge-eating and binge-drinking, but it’s not like that with binge-watching,” explained Vinod Venkatraman, associate professor in marketing at Temple University. “In most instances, viewers are planning to binge-watch ahead of time, and that is one of the first significant contributions of this research because it’s the opposite of what you think of when you hear the word ‘binge.’” Often, binges are shared with friends, promoting chats about the show and positive social interactions. [38]
Pro 2: Binge-watching has health benefits such as stress relief.
According to psychiatrists, binge-watching releases dopamine in the brain, which creates a feeling of pleasure and can help people to relax and relieve stress. [11] Psychologists say that finishing a series can give viewers feelings of control and power, which can be beneficial if viewers are not feeling that in their daily lives. [7]
Adds clinical psychologist John Mayer, “We are all bombarded with stress from everyday living…. It is hard to shut our minds down and tune out the stress and pressures. A binge can work like a steel door that blocks our brains from thinking about those constant stressors that force themselves into our thoughts.” [8]
With the rise of at-home workouts, binge-watching can be paired with exercise. Adding a favorite show to an exercise routine can make the time pass more quickly, add motivation, and increase compliance with an exercise routine. As explained by Jan Van den Bulck, professor of communication and media at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, “Two years ago, I bought a good indoor rower and told myself I am allowed to watch whatever I want when I am on that machine, and it has helped me to row every day for 45 minutes with no feelings of guilt and no boredom. The cliffhangers [at the end of episodes] work to my advantage: it makes me want to row more the next day.” [34]
Pro 3: Binge-watching makes a show more fulfilling.
While binge-watching, the viewer can feel the pleasure of full immersion (aka being in “the zone”), which is a great feeling similar to staying up all night to finish a book or project. Shows made for binge-watching, such as Orange Is the New Black and Stranger Things, are often more sophisticated and have multiple intricate storylines, complex relationships, and multidimensional characters.[12][13][14]
Watching several episodes at once tends to make the story easier to follow and more enjoyable than a single episode. That’s a big reason why the show You went unnoticed while airing on the Lifetime cable TV network but became a sensation once available to binge on Netflix. [7][30]
Pro Quotes
Psychologist Tara Whitmore:
Interestingly, binge-watchers often have a heightened sense of empathy. You might think spending hours absorbed in fictional narratives would disconnect someone from reality, but the opposite is often true.
Binge-watchers regularly engage with complex characters and emotionally charged storylines. This constant exposure to different perspectives and situations can sharpen their ability to understand and share the feelings of others.
It’s like a form of emotional exercise, flexing the empathy muscles over and over again. The more they watch, the more they learn about human emotions, relationships, and experiences.
This can translate into real-world empathy, making them more understanding and compassionate towards the people around them.
So next time you press play on that next episode, remember: You’re not just a binge-watcher. You’re an empathetic storyteller, a lover of narratives, a seeker of connection in an often disconnected world. And there’s something beautiful about that.
Here’s to embracing who we are, in all our binge-watching glory!
—Tara Whitmore, “People Who Have a Tendency to Binge Watch TV Shows Usually Display These 7 Specific Traits, Says a Psychologist,” blogherald.com, Jan. 11, 2025
Historian Darius von Guttner Sporzynski:
“Bingeing – the act of unrestrained and excessive indulgence – is nothing new. In fact, it exemplifies an age-old human desire to be completely immersed in story.
Far from being a new behaviour spawned by the digital age, bingeing is rooted in human history....
Bingeing today is often accompanied by feelings of guilt and unproductiveness. This seems to reflect, more than anything else, a shift in societal values regarding leisure time.
At some points in the past, prolonged engagement with stories would have been seen by certain groups as a valuable cultural activity – one that contributes to personal enrichment and social interaction.
For instance, the European Enlightenment movement of the 17th and 18th centuries encouraged people to develop a critical view of the world through as much self-education as possible. This approach to learning was thought to foster intellectual freedom and happiness, and often involved extensive engagement with written works.
Across time and cultures, humans have sought to escape reality and engage emotionally with stories. From ancient oral traditions, to modern streaming, our desire for continuous narrative consumption has remained constant.
Perhaps by recognising this historical precedent, we can come to appreciate our love of bingeing – and not feel so bad about it after all.
—Darius von Guttner Sporzynski, “Don’t Feel Bad about Bingeing TV. Humans Have Binged Stories for Thousands of Years,” theconversation.com, June 14, 2024
Con Arguments
(Go to Pro Arguments)Con 1: Binge-watching leads to mental health issues.
A University of Texas study found that binge-watchers were more likely to be depressed, lonely, and have less self-control. One of the study’s authors, Yoon Hi Sung, stated: “When binge-watching becomes rampant, viewers may start to neglect their work and their relationships with others.” [15][16]
Binge-watching can lead to digital addiction. As clinical psychologist Renee Carr points out, “The neuronal pathways that cause heroin and sex addictions are the same as an addiction to binge watching. Your body does not discriminate against pleasure. It can become addicted to any activity or substances that consistently produces dopamine.”[8]
A study found that rather than relieving stress, excessive TV watching is associated with regret, guilt, and feelings of failure because of a sense of wasted time.[18] When that binge-watching session is over, the viewer may be more likely to “mourn” the loss of the show by experiencing depression, anxiety, and feelings of emptiness. [19][20]
“You would assume that people will feel happier because they’re watching their show, or they’re [watching] some entertainment,” says Maricarmen Vizcaino of the College of Health Solutions at the University of Arizona, “but that’s not the case—people are more stressed out, if they’re binge-watching.”[32][33]
Con 2: Binge-watching can cause serious physical health problems.
Sitting for extended periods of time has long been linked to slow metabolism, heart disease, cancer, blood clots, and deep vein thrombosis. Binge-watchers are also prone to sit on the couch eating unhealthy food and snacking more, which is linked to weight gain. [21][22][23]
One study found that binge-watching was related to poorer sleep quality, more fatigue, and insomnia, because of pre-sleep arousal. Researchers have also found that watching three or more hours of TV a day is associated with premature death. [5][25]
Another study concluded, “Heavy users reported the least healthful dietary patterns and the poorest health-related characteristics…. Binge-watching was also significantly associated with less healthy dietary patterns, including frequency of fast-food consumption as well as eating family meals in front of a television, and perceived stress.” [32][33]
Con 3: Binge-watching makes the show less fulfilling.
A study found that people who watched multiple episodes of a show in one sitting reported “significantly less show enjoyment” than people who watched one episode at a time. Damon Lindelof, the co-creator of popular shows such as Lost, stated, “This idea of anticipation. That Christmas morning feeling … doesn’t exist in binge culture.” In fact, a single release of all episodes of a show’s new season can even harm the overall popularity and profitability of the show; it can diminish the impact and anticipation that the show could have experienced had the release of the episodes been spread out over time, allowing each episode to spur discussion among the public and the press, building fandom and viewership for each new episode.[26][27]
The popularity of binging shows also makes social media a minefield of spoilers for people who haven’t had time to finish a new season, and a lack of agreement over when the spoiler embargo should be lifted causes rifts among shows’ fan bases. This is just one reason streaming platforms have started to revert back to the one-episode-a-week format when releasing a new show.[29][35]
Furthermore, as binge-watchers reach back into TV archives and watch numerous episodes of serial TV at once, the enjoyment, fan interaction, and show itself are diminished. “The writers of the Shondaland empire took their online fandoms incredibly seriously, live-tweeting, doing Q&As, engaging with viewers through social media as a matter of policy. And the shows reflected this. It can be fun to binge a season of Scandal, but it’s also strangely difficult. The shows move at a breakneck pace, knowing precisely how much viewers can take for 45 minutes at a time. They feature twist after twist after twist, knowing that viewers viewing in real time will turn to their apps or their group texts to discuss. They are built to supercharge the energy of their time slot. Bingeing four Scandal episodes in a row on a streamer—out of their native, weekly habitat—is thus a disorienting, disembodied experience,” explained The New Republic TV critic Phillip Maciak. [36]
Con Quotes
Journalist Flora Watkins:
“Binge-watchers are more likely to experience euphoric highs, but there’s the inevitable comedown after hours spent wasting away in front of the screen. After Baby Reindeer, I felt as disturbed and dirty as I did after reading Chips Channon’s unexpurgated diaries – and in need of a good scrub in the shower. Bingeing on Bridgerton felt like scoffing a surfeit of pastel-coloured, cloyingly sweet macarons – requiring the associated purge. You’re left lying on the sofa feeling morbidly sluggish and lugubrious, but in no way satiated. I’d grown weary of full releases some time ago, but [weekly] Slow Horses [episodes] brought it home to me. I’ve since come to cherish my Wednesday evenings, the WhatsApps and the weeks of tension.”
—Flora Watkins, “It’s Time to Banish Binge-Watching,” spectator.co.uk, Oct. 2, 2024
Media journalist Alex Welch:
“Even massively popular shows like Netflix’s Stranger Things and Hulu’s The Bear have been hurt by their platforms’ binge-release methods. Both of those series have received plenty of attention every time they’ve released new episodes, but the staying power of their seasons has consistently proven to be disappointingly short. That’s an inevitability when viewers are encouraged to watch said seasons within the span of a few days. Imagine, for a moment, if viewers had been forced to wait a week for a new episode after ”Fishes,” The Bear season 2’s anxiety-inducing, star-studded centerpiece installment. How much more lasting of an impact would that episode have had?...
Unfortunately, the longer that services like Hulu, Prime Video, and Netflix hold on to their binge-release models, the more shows are going to be kept from receiving the kind of prolonged attention and support that they deserve. What once felt fresh and freeing now feels stale and restrictive. Put that another way: It’s finally time for TV’s biggest platforms to leave the days of their Netflix-style binge drops behind.”
—Alex Welch, “It’s Time to Leave Netflix’s Binge-Release Model behind for Good,” yahoo.com, May 16, 2024
Jade King, executive editor of The Gamer (a gaming site):
Binge culture has made us expect more and more in shorter spaces of time, thanks to how immediately we can access entertainment at any given time on the majority of our devices. The idea of having to wait a week for another episode of television is now considered archaic.
But it was the norm for decades because it works, both in retaining viewers and creating a fandom which develops over time, maturing with the show and allowing it to shift or change each week. Fallout isn’t allowed that privilege, and has emerged into the world fully formed with little room for evolution. There is no time to discuss potential narrative directions or the development of characters, because everything is served up on a plate right away. Some of the greatest pleasures of modern media is having those discussions, with each new episode becoming a point of excitement in our schedules to look forward to.
—Jade King, “Fallout Is Everything Wrong with Binge Watching Culture,” thegamer.com, Apr. 15, 2024
Discussion Questions
- Do you prefer watching several episodes of a new show at one time or one episode per week? How does your viewing experience change when binge-watching?
- What other pros and cons for binge-watching can you list? Which side do you find more convincing and why?
- What reasons can you think of to explain why some streaming services like Netflix drop a full season at once? What reasons might a service such as Disney+ have for posting just one episode per week?
- Does binge-watching shows contribute to digital addiction? Explain your answer.
Take Action
- Contemplate Talib Babb’s comedic take on “Why Binge-watching Is Good for You.”
- Investigate your own binge-watching with the “Quarantine Binge Watching Calculator.”
- Consider Jake Pitre’s critical theory of binge-watching.
- Consider how you felt about the issue before reading this article. After reading the pros and cons on this topic, has your thinking changed? If so, how? List two to three ways. If your thoughts have not changed, list two to three ways your better understanding of the “other side of the issue” now helps you better argue your position.
- Push for the position and policies you support by writing U.S. senators and representatives.
Sources
- Merriam-Webster, “Binge-Watch,” merriam-webster.com (accessed Dec. 10, 2018)
- Ruth Spencer, “With Netflix Releasing House of Cards All at Once, Tell Us about Your TV Binges,” theguardian.com, Feb. 5, 2013
- BBC News, “Binge-Watch is Collins’ Dictionary’s Word of the Year,” bbc.com, Nov. 5, 2015
- Todd Spangler, “Binge Boom: Young U.S. Viewers Gulp Down Average of Six TV Episodes per Sitting,” variety.com, Mar. 21, 2017
- Liese Exelmans and Jan Van den Bulck, “Binge Viewing, Sleep, and the Role of Pre-Sleep Arousal,” Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 2017
- Grant McCraken, “From Arrested Development to Dr. [sic] Who, Binge Watching Is Changing Our Culture,” wired.com, May 24, 2013
- Chelsea Stone, “How Unhealthy Is Binge Watching? Press Pause and Read On,” rd.com (accessed Dec. 12, 2018)
- Danielle Page, “What Happens to Your Brain When You Binge-Watch a TV Series,” nbcnews.com, Nov. 4, 2017
- Kylie Fitch, “Is Binge-Watching TV Together Good for Your Relationship,” rewire.org, May 2, 2018
- Sarah Gomillion, “The Hidden Relationship Benefits of Binge-Watching,” scientificamerican.com, Oct. 25, 2017
- Kimberly Truong, “Here’s Why Binge-Watching Feels So Good,” refinery29.com, Aug. 16, 2018
- Elizabeth Cohen, “In Defense of Binge-Watching,” qz.com, Apr. 28, 2017
- Kira Goldring, “The Perspective on Binge-Watching,” theperspective.com, 2018
- Steven Johnson, “Watching TV Makes You Smarter,” nytimes.com, Apr. 24, 2005
- Anna Daugherty, “UT Study Links Binge-Watching, Depression,” alcalde.texasexes.org, Feb. 16, 2015
- Lily Feinn, “Binge-Watching Television May Make Us Depressed, According to New Study,” bustle.com, Mar. 7, 2016
- Health Editor, “What Your Binge-Watching Habits Say about Your Mental Health,” health.com, Jan. 30, 2015
- Johannes Gutenberg, “Using Media as a Stress Reducer after a Tough Day Can Lead to Feelings of Guilt and Failure,” uni.mainz.de, July 28, 2014
- Monita Karmakar and Jessica Sloan Kruger, “Those Post-Binge-Watching Blues? They Might Be Real,” theconversation.com, Mar. 4, 2016
- Matthew Schneier, “The Post-Binge-Watching Blues: A Malady of Our Times,” nytimes.com, Dec. 5, 2015
- Alice Park, “It Doesn’t Matter How Much You Exercise if You Also Do This,” health.com, Jan. 20, 2015
- Amanda MacMillan, “6 Ways a TV Binge Affects Your Body, and How to Fight Each One,” health.com, Feb. 27, 2015
- Howard LeWine, “Distracted Eating May Add to Weight Gain,” harvard.edu, Mar. 29, 2013
- Tuck Sleep, “Streaming Content and Sleep - 2018 Study,” tuck.com, 2018
- Hoai-Tran Bui, “Study: Watching Too Much TV Could Lead to Early Death,” usatoday.com, June 25, 2014
- Nathan McAlone, “The Creator of ‘Lost’ Explains Why He Doesn’t Like Netflix-Style Binge-Watching,” nordic-businessinsider.com, Apr. 11, 2017
- Jared Cooney Horvath et al., “The Impact of Binge Watching on Memory and Perceived Comprehension,” firstmonday.org, Sep. 4, 2017
- Cheryl Idell, “HBO NOW Streaming Data in Wake of COVID-19,” medium.com, Mar. 24, 2020
- Julia Alexander, “Disney Is Leading the Charge against Netflix by Returning to Weekly Episode Releases,” theverge.com, Aug. 29, 2019
- Alexis Nedd, “Some TV Shows Are Better off Binged. Others, Not So Much.,” mashable.com, Jan. 25, 2019
- Fabio Duarte, “Video Streaming Services Stats (2024),” explodingtopics.com, June 6, 2024; Alexander Eser, “Insights from Binge-Watching Statistics: TV Habits and Viewer Behavior,” worldmetrics.org, July 23, 2024
- Nicole Karlis, “How Binge-Watching Affects Your Health,” salon.com, Oct. 1, 2020
- Maricarmen Vizcaino et al., “From TVs to Tablets: the Relation between Device-Specific Screen Time and Health-Related Behaviors and Characteristics,” bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com, Aug. 26, 2020
- Lisa Fields, “Is Binge-Watching Keeping You up at Night?,” blog.fitbit.com, Mar. 18, 2021
- Adrian Horton, “Is It Time to Say Goodbye to the Binge Watch?,” theguardian.com, Sep. 27, 2023
- Phillip Maciak, “The Failed Promise of Binge TV,” newrepublic.com, May 29, 2024
- Jason Kottke, “Stinge Watching Is the Opposite of Binge Watching,” kottke.org, Feb. 9, 2024
- Stephen Orbanek, “Don’t Impinge the Binge: Why Viewers Choose to Binge-Watch Television Series,” news.temple.edu, June 18, 2024