Binge TV: The Rise and Impact of the Viewing Revolution

Former Washington Post reporter and editor Steiner (journalism and sports, Rowan Univ.) exceeds his goal of making scholarly writing more accessible to all. That’s no small feat, considering that his book began as a dissertation. Steiner chronicles the development of the ritual of watching multiple TV episodes in a row, from its first mention in an early-internet Usenet forum about The X-Files, to the current media landscape, which puts viewers in control of time management. The influence of binge-watching on any work focused on 21st-century television media is inescapable, Steiner argues. Binge-watching as the new norm became especially true during the onset of the COVID pandemic. The book’s chapter notes and bibliography are especially useful for researchers who are working to connect the past and present. Readers will also appreciate the book’s “commercial breaks,” designed in the form of inset boxes that point to related topics throughout the text.