Monday Is the New Weekend as Quarantined Households Binge on TV

(Bloomberg) -- With millions of Americans still stuck at home amid coronavirus shutdowns and stay-at-home orders, Comcast said Wednesday that it’s seeing shifts and new behaviors in television viewing patterns.

“We’re watching more than an extra workday’s worth of content each week,” the telecommunications company said in a blog post, noting that the average household is watching eight hours more per week than it was in early March.

The surge in TV viewership was accompanied by a 35% increase in streaming and web video consumption, Comcast said, adding that the days “are blurring together” with signs that customers are staying up a little later into the night to watch TV and then sleeping in as the difference between weekdays and weekends fades away.

Key Findings:

• “Monday has become a more popular day to watch television than Saturday.”

• “We’ve seen a 40% upswing in viewing during the late-night hours suggesting customers are opting to stay up a little later than usual, with the largest increases happening between 11 p.m. and 2 a.m. But apparently, they’re also sleeping in longer as we’ve seen a 6% decrease in viewing during the hours of 6 a.m. to 8 a.m.”

• “With journalists working around the clock to keep the world informed on the pandemic, we’ve seen massive engagement, including a 64% increase in consumption of news programming.”

• “The conventional wisdom is that, in times of crisis, viewers may prefer lighter content. Instead, they’re watching even heavier shows.”

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