US trumps Europe in binge-watching stakes, says Ampere

Binge viewing is more common in the US than in Europe but is rapidly becoming “standard practise” in both markets, according to Ampere Analysis.

The research firm found the proportion of internet users who ‘strongly agree’ they frequently watch several episodes of the same TV show back-to-back is 22% in the US and 15% in Europe.

Overall, 63% of people polled in the US agreed they frequently binge, compared to 51% in Europe.

“Binge viewing is now standard practise for most US viewers, and European consumers are rapidly following suit,” said Richard Broughton, director at Ampere Analysis.

In terms of viewing habits by device, Ampere found that in the first quarter of 2018 some 26% of US internet users watched video on their smartphone daily, compared to 19% in Europe. However, in both markets this proportion was down over a six-month period.

US internet users were also found to be more likely to watch online video on a smart TV than their European counterparts, with 39% doing so on a daily basis compared to 26% in Europe.

In the US some 17% of internet users watch video on tablets daily, compared to 10% in Europe, while 21% of US web users watch video on computers daily, versus 20% in Europe, according to Ampere’s stats.

The data is based on survey of 21,000 respondents carried out across 10 markets in the first quarter of this year.