With the increased use of online streaming sites, like Netflix, marathon watching has become popular. People are able to watch multiple seasons of their favorite shows in one sitting, which removes the cliffhanger feeling of waiting for a new episode every week. A survey stated that 73% of Netflix users enjoyed binge watching shows. Most people consider marathon watching to be viewing about two to six episodes in one sitting. Some people find watching multiple episodes to be a refuge from a busy world, and think it allows them to take a break. Other viewers think there is too much good TV to watch, and find it necessary to watch many episodes in one sitting, so that they can see as many of their favorite shows as possible. 66% of Netflix users find this type of viewing engaging and immersive, and find the experience better.
Many people find the viewing marathons to change their experience in a positive way, because it creates an intense and immersive atmosphere. But others do not believe this, instead they believe that it ruins what makes TV shows great. Critics believe that each episode has its own integrity and importance, and that this is unrecognized by watching many episodes at once. Each episode has its own small storyline arc of beginning, middle, and end, which can’t be seen if you are viewing the season as a whole. Another problem is that suspense from cliffhangers can’t be felt when there is no break between two critical episodes. Producers often insert a moment of suspense to maintain viewers’ interest, but this intense following is lost. In addition to losing suspense, the timeline of a TV show does not exist. With a week in between episodes, the “days” spent in a character’s life between episodes, or seasons, seems awkward.
This type of watching has caused Netflix and other sites to release full seasons of their own shows, like House of Cards, all at once to promote marathon watching. It greatly increases their business because people want to watch a complete show with no ads and no waiting. But, TV programming will still be popular because people do not always have time for multiple episodes or enjoy having a special slot in their lives for a show once a week. Do you agree with the critics or do you enjoy viewing all episodes of your favorite show at once?
