person watching tv on phone on the toilet

Bathroom Binge-Watching?!

TV habits revealed: Binge-watching, bathroom-watching, and falling asleep to the TV

Gone are the days when families gathered ’round one TV set in the living room or family room at a specific time to watch the most popular show of the day on one of just a couple of channels. Now, most households have multiple TVs—in bedrooms, kitchens, dining rooms, basements, even outdoors—and we all carry miniature streaming devices in our pockets.

To see how TV-watching habits have changed over the years and where we stand in 2024, USDISH.com conducted a survey of 500 Americans 16 years of age and older to see how and where they prefer to watch. If you’re reading this while on a bathroom break, some of these results may not shock you.

Over 70% of respondents prefer binge-watching

This writer is old enough to remember having to wait a week, maybe even longer, for a cliffhanger ending an episode of a TV show to be resolved. Now, it’s often as simple as letting the next episode start playing. While many broadcast shows (and a few shows on streaming services) release episodes weekly, many shows that debut on streaming release all episodes at once, so viewers can devour whole seasons in a day or less. And that’s the preferred method for our survey respondents.

Do you prefer to binge-watch a whole season or watch episodes as they are released?

Binge-watch - 70.45%

As released - 29.55%

Over 60% of respondents have watched TV in the bathroom

Sometimes, nature calls. And now that we have portable TVs in our pockets or our hands at all times, it can be tempting to turn on a show or keep watching the game. While only about 15% of respondents said they frequently watch the tube on the toilet, only about 40% of folks said they never did, which makes watching on the john rank Number One, and never Number Two.

How often do you watch TV or streaming services in the bathroom?

Frequently - 15.37%

Occasionally - 24.04%

Rarely - 21.36%

Never - 39.23%

About 15% of respondents fall asleep to the TV

Better, lighter, cheaper TVs mean more TVs throughout the house. Bedroom TVs are so prevalent that nearly 15% of people can’t fall asleep without them. Is it the white noise? The soft light? We hope those who fall asleep to the TV aren’t the same folks who binge-watch in the bathroom.

Can you fall asleep without having the TV on?

Yes - 85.44%

No - 14.56%

Summary

The prevalence of streaming services and cord-cutting, more TVs in the home, and various streaming devices have changed our television-watching habits for good. The results are in—if you make your own marathons, let the tube lull you to sleep, or rewatch Game of Thrones on the porcelain throne, you’re not alone.

Methodology

We surveyed 500 Americans 16+ in August 2024 using the online survey platform Pollfish. The results presented are post-stratification; stratification aligns results with the larger population. In this case, we applied stratification to age and gender to bring the results in line with current U.S. demographics.

About USDISH.com

USDISH.com is an authorized reseller of DISH Network. For any media inquiries, contact media@usdish.com.