I have always loved watching television dramas or comedy episodes in their purist form. There is no more pleasurable entertainment for me than buying a whole season of one of my favourite television shows soon after they have been released on DVD and watching a couple of episodes when ever I want without commercials and being at the mercy of the delivery by an Australian television station.
I am not interested in watching television shows I do not own outright on DVD and can not watch without using Internet data, even when streaming services provide content with out commercials. For me personally, I couldn't watch a whole television season in one sitting basically because I don't have the concentration span and I actually remember less than if I slept between watching episodes.
But not all Australians feel this way. Last October research company Roy Morgan released statistics which stated 7.5 million Australians had access to the streaming service Netflix, an increase of 22 per cent from the last period (Donoughue, 2017). Netflix increases in subscribers is changing the way in which many Australians watch television.
Netflix has changed the way consumers watch television by making episodes of certain television series available at once rather than week by week. Netflix has noticed that the more their subscriptions increased, the more consumers were involved in not only watching a number of episodes of their favourite television shows but entire seasons in one sitting.
So as a result Netflix coined the terms binge-watching and binge-racing. Binge-watching is the practice of watching multiple episodes of a television series in rapid succession, whereas binge-racing involves watching an entire season over 24 hours either on streaming or DVD. Binge-racing has attracted a certain social status to it (Hartley, 2017)
"...when the total number of memberships doubled, the number of same-day binge racers went from 200,000 in 2013 to more than 5 million so far this year... Globally, the United States is the binge-racing runner-up to world champ Canada, with Denmark, Finland and Norway rounding out the International Top Five." (Moore, 2017). "Australia comes in eighth place globally for numbers of Netflix binge-racers..." (Donoughue, 2017).
The fact that an increasing number of Australians are spending large amounts of time on the couch binge-racing is cause for concern among health professionals as research shows there are negative effects. These negative effects include the risk of heart disease, short life expectancy, failing to meeting the lowest levels of physical activity recommendations, avoiding social interactions and bad eating habits by snacking on junk food (de Brito, 2018, Hartley, 2017).
There is also evidence the lighting from devices causes sleep disruption which is linked to depression and mental health. Then there is the potential of binge-racing television series to cause negative problems to other aspects of a balanced life such as social interactions and relationships, or by avoiding study or work. Lying on the couch binge-racing can impact on physical health such as spinal issues which can lead to headaches and shoulder and pelvic pain (de Brito, 2018, Hartley, 2017).
While there is research evidence to support claims that watching television in moderation combined with meeting physical activity requirements and good eating and sleeping habits will have a limited impact on health, there are steps a binge-racer can do to take responsibility for their health. Some of these tips include disabling the auto play so it doesn't automatically go onto the next episode. Get up and move around after each episode, adopt good posture habits, prepare healthy snacks and avoid distraction eating and get involved in some good quality exercise (de Brito, 2018).
Prevention of physical injuries and problems caused by binge-watching and binge-racing is better than trying to find a cure after the fact. Television, like all the good things in life I believe is best enjoyed in moderation and within a balance lifestyle as to not impact negatively on one's health.
References
de Brito, R. (2018). 'The new binge. Too much TV is a hazard' published on 27 March in thewestaustralia.com
Donoughue, P. (2017). 'Netflix says Australians are 'binge-racing' through entire seasons in one day' published on 25 Octoer, 2017 in abc.net.au/news.
Hartley, J. (2017). 'Is Netflix binge watching causing anti-social behaviour?' published on 30 October, 2017 in smh.com.au.
Moore, F. (2017). 'A new spectator sport for the TV superfan: 'binge racing' published on 17 October, 2017 in chicagotribune.com.
