Netflix reveals global bingeing habits

Netflix users tend to burn through The Walking Dead and Orange is the New Black, but take their time on House of Cards and Bloodline, according to new data from the SVOD service.

Netflix has revealed ‘The Binge Scale’, which it claims shows how customers in more than 190 countries consume more than 100 serialised series, using a sliding scale ranging from ‘Savour’ to ‘Devour’.

The major take-out from the research was viewers will watch a little over two hours a day when focused on finishing a series.

Genres that caused users to ‘devour’ shows included thriller (Bates Motel, Breaking Bad, Dexter, Sons of Anarchy, The Fall, The Following, The Killing), horror (American Horror Story, Hemlock Grove, Scream, The Walking Dead, Z Nation) and sci-fi (Ascension, Between, Heroes, Sense8, The 100, The 4400).

In the middle were action and adventure (Arrow, Marco Polo, Prison Break, Turn), dramatic comedies (Flaked, Grace & Frankie, Nurse Jackie, Orange is the New Black, Parenthood, Weeds) and crime dramas (Better Call Saul, Bloodline, The Blacklist, Twin Peaks), and superhero drama (Gotham, Marvel’s Daredevil, Marvel’s Jessica Jones, The Flash).

At the ‘savor’ end were historical drama (Mad Men, Narcos, Peaky Blinders), political drama (House of Cards, Occupied, The West Wing) and irreverent comedy (Arrested Development, BoJack Horseman, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Love, F is for Family, Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp).

“As The Binge Scale indicates, the viewing experience of a series can range from the emotional to the thought-provoking,” said Cindy Holland, VP of original content at Netflix.

“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.”

Netflix conducted it research between October 2015 and May 2016, during which time it became available in a combined 190 territories, and looked into the first season of all series.

The global medium to complete a series was five days, with the median per session for series ‘completers’ coming in at two hours, ten minutes. Series that took less than two hours of viewing a day were considered in the ‘savor’ category.

Netflix said The Binge Scale had “no relation to viewership”. The SVOD service, which has around 81 million worldwide users, is notorious for refusing to release any viewing data.