TV’s most addictive show
I F you got to Episode 2 of “Breaking Bad,” you were done for.
That was the moment the majority of Netflix users (70 percent) got sucked into the show and went on to complete the entire first season, according to a new study the streaming service released this week. Netflix found the precise number of episodes that became the tipping point: When viewers tilted into full-on binge-aholic fandom.
It didn’t happen during the pilot episode of any show, according to the study, but for some shows, such as “Breaking Bad” and “Bates Motel,” it only took two episodes.
“Mad Men,” with newly minted Emmy winner Jon Hamm, didn’t seduce viewers until the sixth episode; the goofy broad comedy of “How I Met Your Mother” didn’t produce rabid fans until the eighth episode.
The report is a look inside the relatively new world of binge-watching habits, which is sure to be studied more in coming years as people cut the cord on traditional cable and spend more time gorging themselves on a buffet of on-demand streaming options. The report argues that without the constant intrusion of annoying commercials, or the agony of waiting a week for a new episode, people are more likely to become loyal viewers more quickly.
“It’s more like reading a book,” Netflix spokeswoman Erin Dwyer tells The Post, “You go on to the next chapter. It’s an easier transition when you have it at your control.” Dwyer insists Netflix isn’t changing the way it creates shows because of the study, but the message is clear: Letting a story unfold over several episodes is more important than hooking audiences in the premiere. The episodes that roped in viewers don’t share a common theme, but mostly, the “hook” point was always an iconic moment: On “Breaking Bad,” it was likely when the tub falls through the ceiling, or on “Orange Is the New Black” when Crazy Eyes throws a pie in defense of her crush.
“A lot of the hooked episodes had those key pivotal memorable moments,” Dwyer says. “For most, it was pretty much an iconic thing that happened that people were talking [about].”