Assignment: Mass Communication and Media Studies

Assignment

Binge-watching: A New Normal in TV watching Habits

Abstract

Binge-watching which is also known as the act of watching many episodes back to back in one sitting. Binge watching is now becoming a new normal of the Internet era where the internet is cheaper and faster than before. Which allows unlimited access to Online Entertainment Media and because of that people remain glued to their screen for hours and hours. Unlimited content is available on Online Media to provide  wider exposure for the Binge watchers. This article is an attempt to analyse how Binge watching is becoming a new trend in online media. It also defines the Multi Screen Environment of TV watching and some of the strategies like Gratification Theory and Cognitive Preference of Audience used by the producers to engage large audiences. In the end we will see some of the negative impacts of Binge-watching as well.

Key Words: Binge-watching, Gratification Theory, Cognitive, Negative Impact of Binge-watching.

Introduction

Technology has brought a revolutionary change in Society and it plays an important role in Human's day to day life. Nowadays a man without technology seems like a handicap and incomplete. New inventions of technology bring convenience and ease in life and have totally transformed our lifestyle and the ways of our activities.

With the advancement and development of new technologies the ways of entertaining oneself are also evolving. After the invention of Gutenberg Printing Press people engaged themselves with books in their free time. After that in 1896 Radio came into existence which is in the form of audio used by people to get information of ongoing events and as a form of entertainment as well. And at last in 1925 Television got invented which remains as an attraction for several years. But now with the changing paradigm Mobile is becoming a handy device and the use of the internet is increasing rapidly allows an individual to watch their desired  content in their own convenience.

Internet TV and the move to the digital approach is quite revolutionary. TV has historically been a broadcast medium with everybody picking from a very finite number of channels.

(Bill Gates)

So, As Bill Gates has significantly noted, now people are moving towards 'Internet TV' which is more of a digital approach that gives freedom of watching intended content. Whereas on television people have to wait for the show with several limitations in channel, timing and brockages like commercials in between.

Under the use of the Internet Entertainment Industry has gone under major changes and journey now ended on Binge Watching where people can watch back to back all episodes of a series instead of waiting for the next  24 hours. So, With the emergence of 'Internet TV' watching habits of people are also changing and people are moving towards non-traditional media. In this article the writer tries to cover the following objectives…

• What is Binge-watching?
• This study will also highlight the current trends in Cinema and Television.
• What are the positive and negative effects of Binge-watching?
• What are the models used by producers to attract more and more audiences to binge watch?
• How is the perception of viewers diverting towards Online Entertainment Media instead of television and Cinema?
• Why is Digital Media overtaking Traditional Media and creating huge viewership?

What is Binge Watching?

Other substitutional words which are used alternatively with Binge-watching are..

• Marathon viewing
• Binge Viewing

Binge-watching in simple words is to watch more than two episodes of any series in a single sitting. Binge watching is more similar to Binge-eating and Binge-drinking. Just like drinking and Eating Binge watching also has some addictive aspects - which shows massive consumption of a substance within a short period of time, which can be termed as 'TV Addiction.'

Cambridge Dictionary defines Binge Watching as...

"To watch several episodes (separate parts) of a television series or programme, one after another"

According to Merriam Webster's Dictionary…

"To watch many or all episodes of (a TV series) in rapid succession."

Digital Democracy Survey 2015 defines Binge watching as...

“Watching three or more episodes of TV or Webseries in one sitting.”

Multi-screen Environment of TV watching

Phalen  and Ducey  (2012) introduced  a new  concept called the  multi-screen  environment  of TV  watching, in  which an  individual can  watch any TV  content once he/she is connected to the internet using their own mobile  devices, computer screens, tablets,  or  iPads.

So, Multi Screen Environment provides all in one effect where people are watching their personalised content via the Internet on OTT Platforms. Every individual is watching what they want, when they want on their own  gadgets. So, basically the Multi Screen Environment tempted an individual to binge watch. 

Multi-screen TV environments are different. This is a place where you don't have to wait for another scheduled episode which will broadcast at the same time after 24 hour as we see in Television. Multi-screen Environment has turned Appointment Viewing of Television into Self-generated viewing. And Multiscreen Environment TV watching is also becoming a new normal way of media consumption. One critic rightly remarks that...

Digital video recorders and the Internet have changed the way people view television in that these technologies allow viewers to watch at their own convenience and pace (Damratoski  et  al.,  2011: 72).

Strategies applied by producers to attract more audience

With the changing time medium and methods of consuming media is also changing. Binge watching has now almost replaced the place of Television. People's preference towards smaller but individual screens is rapidly increasing. And the makers of the series are also taking people's needs at center. And they are applying methods of Video-on-Demand. There are some tricks applied by producers to attract more audiences to continue watching their series. Here are some of the strategies…

1. All Episodes at a time: New OTT Platforms and New series are designed in such a way that they release all the episodes of the series at a time. In traditional TV watching people have to wait for the next episode to broadcast but the Online Entertainment Industry uploads all the episodes at a time and because of that people choose to complete the whole series by watching back to back every episodes.
2. Cliff Hangers: At the end of every episode there are some cliff Hangers which keep the audience hanging in between. And to satisfy their curiosity they keep on watching the next episode and end up watching 4 to 5 episodes in a single sitting. So, Cliff-Hangers is a handy trick to keep the audience engaged with the series till the end of the series.
3. Substitute for Healing Emotional damage or Disturbance: Sometimes people are not in the right frame of mind to decide what is right or wrong. Internally they are disturbed and this leads them to continue watching the series as an alternative to forget their pain. So, Binge-watching is also sometimes used as a substitute to heal or repair emotional damage. 

Gratification Theory

Gratification Theory developed into a framework for understanding audiences’ exposure to televisions, newspapers, radios, the Internet, and computers 

(Ruggerio, 2000)

Use of Gratification Theory helps to understand the habits of people's preference for watching. This theory is totally Audience Centric where the need of the audience is always at the centre. And content is also developed by considering the audience as a significant part. 

Most OTT platforms use this gratification theory to understand the taste of the audience and usage pattern of viewers. Artificial intelligence of OTT platforms works in such a way that it easily understands the choice of audience and provides content according to their taste. 

Gratification Theory helps to explain people’s motives for using media, their behavior such as media selection and content sharing can be further explored.

(Haridakis and Rubin, 2005)

So, This is how gratification theory is used to increase the audience and apparently it also increases binge watching. So, by using Gratification Theory the system provides personalised content to each and everyone.

Cognitive Preference of Audience

According to this model, viewing (or reading of literature) is understood by drawing upon our knowledge of cognition and perception, and then positing how the formal elements in a text might be experienced by such a viewer—while viewers are not reduced to their mental mechanics, the insights of cognitive science informs how we imagine the possible ways that viewers engage with film or television”

(By Jason Mittel from ‘The poetics of contemporary television storytelling’)

Cognitive preference revolves around how to engage the audience with the series. And this content plays a vital role. So, whenever there is a production of any series Cognitive preference of audience should be kept in mind to attract more audience. This focus on For which kind of audience we are preparing this content? How this audience will be able to relate with this content. Will they be able to engage themselves with content or not? So, these are the questions that can be asked to recognise the cognitive Preference of Audience and this will help to produce more influential content which again tempted an audience to binge watch back to back all episodes in one or two sittings.

Negative effects of Binge-watching on Health

There are other negative health effects:

Depression and anxiety One study found that people who watch more TV suffer from anxiety and depression. People who watch more series on their personalized gadgets lead them to binge watch and Binge-watching break their connection and communication with Society. And because of that the cases of depression and anxiety are also increasing. 

(A STUDY OF EFFECTS OF WEB SERIES & STREAMING CONTENT ON INDIAN YOUTH by Rahul Ahuja (Survey - Patna, Bihar)

Back problems While Binge watching people used to sit 3 to 4 hours continuously and sometimes more than that in uncomfortable posture.  Poor posture while sitting may cause spine ache and back problems. These are long term problems. Initially you will not get any kind of problem at all but long term sitting may cause problems of Back pain.

Lack of oxygen. While Binge watching for a long time sitting is obvious and study suggests that sitting for long periods of time may shrink your lung capacity by a third. And reducing lung capacity means there is a possibility of the problem of Oxygen shortage in our body.

Lack of physical activity:  Binge watching is increasing rapidly. And during Binge watching people are sitting for a long period of time without any physical activities which may increase your risk for heart disease and stroke.

“Studies show that sitting for long periods of time can increase one’s risk for metabolic syndrome, which can increase your risk of heart disease, stroke and Type 2 diabetes.”

(Sophia Tolliver, a family medicine physician at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center)

Sleeping Disorder: Most of the people used to binge watch series during night or before sleep. If they find the series more interesting their inner desire will say 'one more, one more' and this one more is postponing our sleep episode after episode. Because of that Binge-watchers reported more fatigue, having more symptoms of insomnia, poorer sleep quality and greater alertness prior to going to sleep etc. 

Conclusion

  

To conclude, Binge watching is emerging as a new trend watching habits. And along with its development it is also creating some problems among binge watchers. As everything has positive as well as negative sides in the same manner Binge watching also has some positive sides like it fulfills your desire and it can be taken as an instant answer to your curiosity which can be gotten by watching the next episode instantly. But it has some negative effects which creates psychological imbalance in the human mind and leads to depression, anxiety, insomnia.

References

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• Deloitte. “Digital Democracy Survey: A Multi-Generational View of  Consumer Technology, Media and  Telecom Trends.” Www.deloitte.com/Us/Tmttrends, 2015. 
• Dhandhuka, Aditya, and Abhilasha Bohra. “Binge-Watching: Web-Series Addiction amongst Youth.” Durgadevi Saraf Institute of Management Studies, vol. 2, no. 1, n.d., doi:ISSN:2581- 6632. 
• Halton, Clay. “Over the Top (OTT).” Investopedia, Investopedia, 4 Mar. 2021, www.investopedia.com/terms/o/over-top.asp#:~:text=Over%20the%20top%20(OTT)%20refers,referred%20to%20as%20cord%20cutters. 
• Matrix, Sidneyeve. “The Netflix Effect: Teens, Binge Watching, and On-Demand Digital Media Trends.” The Centre for Research in Young People's Texts and Cultures,University of Winnipeg. Jeunesse, 21 May 2014, jeunessejournal.ca/index.php/yptc/article/view/229. 
• Mittel, Jason. “Complex TV: The Poetics of Contemporary Television Storytelling.” International Journal of Communication, 2017, pp. 2488–2490., doi:1932–8036/2017BKR0009. 
• Singh, Dr. Paramveer. “New Media as a Change Agent of  Indian Television and Cinema: A Study of Over the Top Platforms.” Journal of Content, Community & Communication, vol. 9, June 2019, pp. 131–137., doi:DOI: 10.31620/JCCC.06.19/18.