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Abstract:This article explores the concept of the binge as viewing protocol associated with fan practices, industry practice and linked to 'cult' and 'quality' serialised content. Viewing binge-watching as an intersection of discourses of industry, audience and text, the concept is analysed here as shaped by a range of issues that dominate the contemporary media landscape. In this, factors like technological developments, fan discourses and practices being adopted as 'mainstream' media practice, changes in the discursive construction of 'television' and an emerging Videoon-Demand industry contribute to the construction of binge-watching as deliberate, selfscheduled alternative to 'watching TV'. Keywords:Binge-watching, Quality TV, Cult TV, Fan Studies, Video-on-Demand, DVD, Discourse 1 Theoretically, any text can be binge-watched, but these lists do specify serialised content, often explicitly mentioning Netflix as a means to watch it. And they do not focus on supposedly 'low-culture' reality formats, but texts that feature award-winning actresses like Madeline Stowe or have been nominated for prestige awards.Charlotte Brunsdon links the rise of bingeing DVD box sets with a shift in the perception of television:This new, good television, in contrast to old, bad, addictive television is not broadcast network television, but television which one either pays to see, or watches on DVD. Instead of being associated with housebound women, this new television is young, smart, and on the move, downloaded or purchased to watch at will. (2010, 65) As discussed in more detail later on, these texts are invested with more cultural acclaim than traditionally afforded to television texts. But they also encourage focussed, and self-scheduled binge-watching through complex narrative structures. Autonomous scheduling, as made possible through VHS, DVR, DVD or VOD, allows viewers to set aside time for the focussed and planned watching of content. As this suggests, the concept of binge-watching is understood here as discursive formation or an intersection of a variety of discourses. This study focusses on discourses of industry, text, and audience, though the latter point focusses on the figure of the fan and the mainstreaming of fandom rather than empirical audience research.

This article explores the relationship between television and video on demand (VOD), focusing specifically on Netflix and its recent move to produce and distribute original serialised drama. Drawing on a number of conceptualisations of contemporary media, this article positions Netflix within a contemporary media landscape, paying particular attention to how it relates to branding strategies of multi-platform serialised content and subscription cable channels in the United States. It considers Netflix-produced season 4 of Arrested Development (Fox, 2003–2013, Netflix, 2013) as a case study to explore how Netflix positions itself in relation to contemporary ‘quality’ and ‘cult’ TV and associated viewing practices and draws on theories of post-postmodern capitalism to understand its function within a broader socio-political context. As such, it places Netflix within discourses of VOD, TVIII, branding, contemporary viewing practices and consumer practices in post-postmodern capitalism.

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