One in five British workers calls in sick to binge-watch TV shows, survey finds

Nearly one in five people have said they have called in sick to binge-watch TV shows
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James Morris10 June 2019

Nearly one in five British workers have admitted calling in sick in order to binge-watch TV shows.

Research by the Radio Times found 18 per cent have skipped work in order to continue watching their favourite shows.

The magazine put it down to the continuing growth of streaming services such as Netflix and digitalisation of traditional broadcasters.

Editorial director Tim Glanfield said: “With the arrival of the streaming giants from the United States and the adoption of catch-up services by major UK broadcasters, the way people are watching TV is changing at an incredible rate, with more of us ‘binge-watching’ TV than ever before.

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“With more major streaming services, including Apple TV+ and Disney+, slated for UK launches in 2019, and both bringing more new and exclusive content to the British TV market alongside the likes of established players like Netflix and Amazon, it’s likely binge-watching is here to stay.”

The survey of 5,500 people also found 80 per cent of people have sacrificed their sleep to carry on watching a programme.

And nearly one in four respondents to the survey said they even felt pressure to “keep up with the latest trends". Some 23 per cent admitted they have lied about watching a programme because other people were talking about it.

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