Netflix users like comedy in the morning, documentaries late at night

By William Hughes | May 24, 2017 | 10:28pm

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Netflix has released another one of its periodic data dumps about people’s viewing habits, this time focused on what sort of content people consume at different times of day. (Frankly, we weren’t even aware that Netflix operated outside “late-night, bleary-eyed binging” hours, but you learn something new every day.) Per USA Today, people around the world follow a pretty set viewing pattern across their days: comedy in the morning, followed by dramas at mid-day. (Who doesn’t like a little Orange Is The New Black with their lunch?) Primetime gets people’s attention on thrillers like Stranger Things, before bedtime draws them back to comedy. And for those of us who’ve lost all understanding of what “proper sleep hours” might mean, documentaries are there to get us through the midnight-to-6-a.m. block.

Variety teased out a few more data points from the analysis, which covered viewing patterns in 22 different countries. For instance, peak streaming time varies by country, from as early as 5 p.m. (India) to 11 (Mexico and Singapore.) Netflix accompanied the new data with a bit of bragging about the way its services have freed humanity from the tyranny of the network TV schedule (if not our own addictive, sedentary, and habit-prone natures.) “For years our lives had to fit around television,” Netflix VP of content Cindy Holland said in announcing the results. “Now it’s the other way around.”