Edelman CCCA media scholar writes definitive book on binge-watching

Binge TV watching is having a moment, but the moment has lasted much longer than many viewers might think.

Long before fans binged hours of “Stranger Things” (Netflix), “Succession” (HBO Max), or “Ted Lasso” (Apple TV+), many viewers were, actually, binge-watching, they just didn’t have a name for it.

In a new book, “Binge TV: The Rise and Impact of the Viewing Revolution,” Rowan University’s Dr. Emil Steiner breaks down how binge watching – viewing multiple episodes of a television program in rapid succession – started, and how it became the default mode for many viewers today.

“It actually started in the 1970s and 80s with VCRs,” said Steiner, an assistant professor of journalism and program coordinator of Sports Media & Communication in the Ric Edelman College of Communication & Creative Arts. “Back then you were beholden to what the broadcasters aired. But with VCRs you could record them, watch at your convenience, fast forward through commercials and start building your own video libraries.”

Steiner, a media scholar who, as a reporter and editor at The Washington Post was part of the 2008 team that received the Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting, said the mass marketing of complete television series on DVD accelerated the practice of binge-watching, but the emergence of streaming platforms in the mid-2010s switched it into high gear.

And yet, Steiner said, the development of streaming platforms per se doesn’t account for the sudden popularity of binge-watching starting around 2012. Instead, a confluence of seemingly unrelated factors – the nationwide spread of broadband to American homes, Netflix’s release of seasons 1-4 of AMC’s drug kingpin show “Breaking Bad” prior to the broadcast of season 5, even the mass shooting in an Aurora, Colo., movie theater – contributed to viewers staying home and watching more.

“Binge watching went from an obscure term to everybody’s doing it, and I trace it all in the book,” Steiner said.

Watching what, when and where you want

He noted that the explosion in popularity of streaming services like Hulu, Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video now seem like a natural development. For the first time in TV history, viewers have what was previously unthinkable – the ability to decide what, when and where to watch their favorite shows.

But it isn’t all positive.

“The way we choose to express our joy is (often) to consume as much as possible. You’re gaining control but you’re losing control all through your remote control,” he said.

Steiner, who grew up in a family of readers – his parents are retired college professors – said even as a child he found refuge in television, a form of entertainment long referred to as “the idiot box.” He said the term wasn’t especially fair to television then, and it’s certainly not now, as multi-billion-dollar companies compete for and finance a dizzying torrent of high-quality, often highly-acclaimed programming.

And yet, he said, TV’s evolution is kind of a mixed bag for consumers.

“The shared TV experiences, where there’s a show that everyone is talking about, we don’t really have anymore outside of the Super Bowl or maybe presidential debates,” he said. “But there are positives, too. Streaming has kept some shows alive and rebirthed other great shows.”

“Binge TV: The Rise and Impact of the Viewing Revolution,” (McFarland), is available from booksellers or at www.McFarlandBooks.com.