Half of TV viewers admit they’ve binged more than eight hours of a show in one sitting, according to an exclusive RadioTimes.com survey that received more than 5,500 responses.


With the arrival of the streaming giants from the United States and the adoption of catch-up services by major UK broadcasters, the way people are watching TV is changing at an incredible rate, with more of us “binge watching” TV than ever before.

When asked what was the longest they’d binged a TV show in one go, half (50%) of respondents said 8 hours or more, with three quarters saying they’d binged more than 4 hours in one sitting.

So keen, it seems, are modern TV fans to keep watching that 80% admit they’ve lost sleep to carry on with a programme, and 18% say they’ve called in sick for work specifically to allow them to continue their latest binge.

Indeed, binge watching has become such a big part of modern TV-viewing that people feel under pressure to keep up with the latest trends, with almost one in four (23%) of our respondents admitting they’d lied about seeing a show to fit in because everyone else was talking about it.

Despite numerous options for watching content in the internet age, most people (57%) say that they regularly binge on the TV – with 33% saying they watch shows on their laptop and 27% adding they also use their phone.

With more major streaming services, including Apple TV+ and Disney+, slated for UK launches in 2019, and both bringing more new and exclusive content to the British TV market alongside the likes of established players like Netflix and Amazon, it’s likely binge watching is here to stay.