The art of binge watching

No one has time to wait for a week to find out what happened to the Stark family or whether Zoey survived falling under a train. Welcome to the world of binge watching

April 20, 2015 07:20 pm | Updated April 21, 2015 08:19 am IST - Bengaluru

This image released by Netflix shows Kevin Spacey as Francis Underwood, left, and Robin Wright as Clair Underwood in a scene from "House of Cards." Spacey was nominated for an Emmy Award for best actor in a drama series on Thursday, July 10, 2014, for his role as Frank Underwood. The 66th Primetime Emmy Awards will be presented Aug. 25 at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Netflix, Nathaniel E. Bell)

This image released by Netflix shows Kevin Spacey as Francis Underwood, left, and Robin Wright as Clair Underwood in a scene from "House of Cards." Spacey was nominated for an Emmy Award for best actor in a drama series on Thursday, July 10, 2014, for his role as Frank Underwood. The 66th Primetime Emmy Awards will be presented Aug. 25 at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Netflix, Nathaniel E. Bell)

Do you enjoy watching an entire season of a TV series at a single stretch or do you enjoy the suspense of waiting for a week for your episode fix? High speed internet, Wi-Fi routers and online streaming has created a new category of television viewers — the binge watchers who watch entire seasons at a time. Series such as House Of Cards , which releases the entire season on one day on Netflix encourages binge watching.Pratik Jain, a data analyst at an IT firm spends most of his weekend catching up on popular TV series. “I spend almost 12 hours catching up on the latest on American TV. Shows such as Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones have become popular in India only now. People binge watch these shows as they want to be up to speed when the new season is aired. I like watching these episodes in one shot so that I don’t get bored which might happen if I only watch it once a week.”

Spoilers are another reason for binge watching. “With online discussions on TV shows becoming super popular in India people do not see any point in waiting for the episodes,” says Pratik. “Recently, four episodes of the latest season of The Game of Thrones was leaked online and saw more than a million downloads immediately. The race to ensure that you are ahead of the spoiler race ensures that people watch all of it in one go, instead of waiting for a week.”

Software professional Sudhir.K does not buy this argument. “Binge watching is destroying the TV experience. A TV series is expected to keep you guessing, make you more involved in it and ensure that you invest much more than a three-hour long movie. That will not happen, if you try and finish TV series in day long sittings.

“When Zoey Barnes is thrown under a train in House Of Cards or after much of the Stark Family is murdered at The Red Wedding in Game of Thrones, if you immediately move on to the next episode, you tend to lose an emotional connect with the series. It becomes like a movie that you finish in quick time and then move on to other things.

“Watching everything ever made all at once in a blur lessens the impact. I have stronger memories of telly from 20 years ago than programming I watched last week. You do not discuss plots or ideas about these shows with your families anymore since you know what happens next. The time that a family used to get huddled in front of a TV set every week is now replaced by people in different rooms, hunched over their electronic devices.” Restaurant owner Sumit Singh argues, “Binge watching is good fun occasionally, if a new series comes out or you chance upon some excellent television not available in India. I do not see the point of binge watching as some sort of keeping up with the Jones activity. Many people binge watch just so that they get a chance to be part of online discussions.”

Binge watching is not the best thing to do for a healthy lifestyle argues doctor Pradeep Kumar. He says, “Sitting in one place and watching TV for long hours is terrible for your health. It is resulting in more and more youngsters grappling with high sugar levels and low nutrition, since you go a carb heavy diet in your attempt to finish your episodes on time. I think some sort of balance is very important.”

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