BREAKING BAD and HOUSE OF CARDS are Most Binge-Watched TV Series

TiVo Research and Analytics, Inc. (TiVo Research), a subsidiary of TiVo Inc. (NASDAQ: TIVO), today revealed results from the TiVo Spring 2014 Binge-Viewing Survey. With 91 percent of the 15,196 survey respondents reporting binge-viewing as common viewing behavior, binging is firmly established as the preferred method of consuming entertainment content. In fact, 40 percent of respondents had binged within a week and 69 percent had binged within a month of the survey.

Respondents cite the desire to "catch up" on TV and "only having learned about the show after many episodes had already aired" as their top drivers for binging. Twenty-nine percent of respondents deliberately put off watching an entire season of a show until they could watch the whole season at once, a trend TiVo Research expects will only grow.

"When television seasons began in the fall and ended in May and the menu of great TV programs was shorter, viewers could use summer reruns to catch up on missed episodes of their favorite shows," said TiVo Chief Research Officer Jonathan Steuer. "Today, though, the menu of available television fare has expanded to include thousands of channels, original programming from broadcast, cable and over-the-top sources and year-round premieres. It is now literally impossible for viewers to see all the shows they enjoy when they are first broadcast, and there's no 'summer break' when viewers can catch up. But thanks to the control over cable, broadcast and OTT content afforded by TiVo, and to the proliferation of streaming services like Netflix, binge-viewing has rapidly become common practice."

Beyond binge-viewing three or more episodes of a series in a day, TiVo Research's survey also investigated another binging habit: Watching an entire season (or more) of a specific program over multiple days. Three-quarters of survey respondents reported participating in this type of "super-binge" activity, with 14 percent having done so in the prior week and 23 percent having done so between a week and a month prior to taking the survey.

Binge-Fodder of Choice
When asked to choose which of the popular programs they had ever binged-viewed, 35 percent of respondents selected "Breaking Bad," which TiVo Research also reported as the most-binged show in January, and 29 percent mentioned House of Cards.

Binging Becomes Socially Acceptable
When asked about their Perception of the term "binging," only one-third of respondents felt it the term had negative connotations, compared to April 2013, when over half (53 percent) of those surveyed considered it a negative term. As the negative connotations around binging disappear and program accessibility continues to expand, TiVo Research will continue to track this phenomenon, which profoundly affects the way viewers consume television.

Additional Key Findings

• Over half (52 percent) cited TiVo as the most common source of the episodes of programs binged; Netflix placed second at 29 percent
• 46 percent cited Netflix as the most common source for binge-viewing an entire season (or more) with TiVo coming in second at 19 percent
• Another 46 percent stated TiVo is the most common device they utilize to binge view an entire season (or more)

More Information on TiVo Binge Month and TiVo Binge Watcher of the Week Sweepstakes
July has been named TiVo Binge Month! Stay out of the hot sun and visit the TiVo Collections Page to view unique binge collections, such as the Bill Murray Collection, Bad Superhero Movie Binge Collection and Politics Schmolitics Collection. You can also find retro collections that include such classics as Cheers and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, or catch current hits Breaking Bad, House of Cards and Mad Men.

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