Netflix ‘Binge Scale’: Which Shows Do We Devour?
Netflix | Source: Thinkstock
Thanks to Netflix, audiences no longer have to wait a full week to tune into the next episode of their favorite TV shows. Instead, we can watch entire seasons within a matter of a few days. With binge-watching on the rise, the company has just released the Netflix “Binge Scale,” revealing which of its currently streaming TV series are being consumed the fastest.
The streaming service analyzed subscriber’s binging habits by investigating the way that viewers in 190 countries watched more than 100 television series. It found that when subscribers are really into a series, it only takes about five days to finish an entire season, with an average viewing time of two hours and 10 minutes per day.
Using this metric, Netflix was able to break its catalogue of shows into two categories: “Devoured,” defined as shows that were viewed more than two hours per day, and “Savored,” meaning series that were viewed less than two hours a day.
So which shows fall into which category? Check out the Netflix Binge Scale below:
Netflix Binge Scale | Source: Netflix
As the scale highlights, the most devoured shows are thrillers. For obvious reasons, suspense-filled shows like Netflix’s The Fall are consumed the fastest, as it seems no one can resist the urge to watch just one more episode. Other titles included in this category are Breaking Bad, Dexter, Sons of Anarchy, The Killing, The Following, and Bates Motel.
Also devoured quickly? Horror shows like Hemlock Grove, American Horror Story, Penny Dreadful, The Walking Dead, Z Nation, and Scream.
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt | Source: Netflix
Falling on the “savored” side of the scale are irreverent comedies including Netflix’s Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and the animated series, BoJack Horseman. Other comedic titles like Arrested Development, Wet Hot American Summer, Summer Heights High, F is For Family, and Love also fall into this category.
Other genres that Netflix claims are “indulged at an unhurried pace” are political dramas like House of Cards, Homeland, and The Good Wife and historical dramas, like Narcos, Mad Men, and Peaky Blinders. Surprisingly, superhero dramas like Gotham, Marvel’s Daredevil, Marvel’s Jessica Jones, and The Flash also tend to fall on the savored end of the scale.
Netflix is quick to stress that just because a show is savored, as opposed to devoured, doesn’t mean that it’s necessarily less successful. Instead, the streaming service suggests that the disparity in binge-watching habits is a result of how much thought and attention to detail a particular series requires. For example, the company suggests that quirky comedies like Kimmy Schmidt aren’t as binge-friendly because “the societal commentary that powers their densely layered comedy paired with characters that are as flawed as they are entertaining allow them to be savored.”
As for other shows on the savored end of scale, Netflix proposes that viewers like to take their time digesting everything in complex dramas (such as House Of Cards and Bloodline) and to soak up the distinctive atmospheres of period series like Mad Men. The latter also goes for the comic book-inspired worlds of Daredevil and Jessica Jones.
Check out the full list of Netfix’s most binged TV shows below, listed in order from most savored to most devoured.
Savored
Arrested Development | Source: Netflix
Irreverent Comedies: Arrested Development, BoJack Horseman, Club de Cuervos, F Is For Family, Love, Summer Heights High, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Wet Hot American Summer
Political Dramas: Homeland, House Of Cards, Occupied, The Good Wife, The West Wing
Historical Dramas: Mad Men, Narcos, Peaky Blinders, The Americans
Superhero Dramas: Gotham, Marvel’s Daredevil, Marvel’s Jessica Jones, The Flash
Crime Dramas: Better Call Saul, Bloodline, Fargo, The Blacklist, The Bridge, Twin Peaks
Orange Is the New Black | Source: Netflix
Dramatic Comedies: Flaked, Grace & Frankie, Nurse Jackie, Orange is the New Black, Parenthood, Rescue Me, Weeds
Action & Adventure: 24, Arrow, La Reina del Sur, Marco Polo, Outlander, Prison Break, The Last Kingdom, Turn, Vikings
Sci-Fi: Ascension, Between, Heroes, Orphan Black, Sense8, The 100, The 4400, Under the Dome
Horror: American Horror Story, Hemlock Grove, Penny Dreadful, Scream, The Walking Dead, Z Nation
Thriller: Bates Motel, Breaking Bad, Dexter, Sons of Anarchy, The Fall, The Following, The Killing.