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Netflix’s ‘Binge Scale’ reveals TV shows’ average consumption time

Do you binge-watch or space out episodes of your favorite show? Netflix has released a “Binge Scale” that differentiates between the “TV series we devour and those we savor,” the company said in a news release.

The streaming service analyzed global viewing habits of more than 100 serialized television shows on its site to demonstrate its findings on the average speed of show consumption.

With the advent of streaming services like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime, the act of binge-watching TV series has become much more common. Netflix examined its own data from the 190 countries where it currently streams to consider viewer experiences and genre in the binge-watching phenomenon.

Netflix’s “Binge Scale” reveals that customers “savor” irreverent comedies and political dramas, meaning that they watch less than two hours of these genres per day. Meanwhile, horror and thriller television series tend to be “devoured,” or binge-watched at a much higher frequency.

Netflix also noted that genre impacted scale placement over show length; both irreverent comedies like Netflix’s “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” which usually runs under 30 minutes, and political dramas like “House of Cards,” which runs for closer to an hour, fall on the “savor” side of the scale. Dramatic comedies like “Orange Is the New Black” and sci-fi shows like “Sense8” both fall on the “devour” side of the scale, despite differing episode length.