US-based video-on-demand service Netflix has released data on the South African market showing that South Africans' TV streaming habits are on par with international viewers.
The study found that 61% of South African viewers admitted to regularly binge watching online TV shows.
The majority of international respondents (73%) defined binge watching as watching between two to six episodes of the same TV show in one sitting.
"Our viewing data shows the majority of streamers would actually prefer to have a whole season of a show available to watch at their own pace," says Ted Sarandos, chief content officer of Netflix.
He says online streaming services like Netflix has helped "free" consumers from the limitations of linear television. This means viewers no longer have to wait a week to watch the next episode of their favourite show, as the whole season is available now to watch at the same time.
Viewing data shows Netflix members around the world watched more than 140 million hours of video per day last year - which equals just under one billion hours per week.
The data also shows that in 2017, the most popular day locally was 15 October, and that one South African Netflix subscriber watched Radio Rebel 191 times throughout the year.
The most popular show that South Africans binge watched last year was a Spanish language drama with English subtitles about the first lady of Mexico: Ingobernable.
Other popular binge titles included Greenleaf, American Vandal, Suburra: Blood on Rome, Anne with an E, The Keepers and The OA.
Titles that South Africans watched but didn't binge on (watching less than two hours per day) included The Crown, ASOUE, Big Mouth, Ultimate Beastmaster and Disjointed.
Last year, Netflix announced it will invest in growing its South African user base, as well as look to bring more local original content onto the platform.
Since Netflix's official introduction to SA in January 2016, the amount of content available to local viewers has tripled. The service says this growing catalogue is one of the main reasons it decided to take a more proactive stance here.
Netflix is now present in over 190 countries and costs start at $7.99 per month - pricing is kept in dollars to protect the company from currency fluctuations.
The video streaming service space in SA is already competitive, with the likes of home-grown ShowMax, and Amazon Prime vying for subscription numbers.
Share