Michael Babas, reporting for the Globe & Mail on a study commissioned by Netflix:
Among these online American adults who stream TV shows at least once a week, binge watching is “widespread behaviour,” a regular pastime among 61 per cent.
My first experience with binge-watching happened in 2002 after a friend lent me the first season of the series 24. I got so hooked that I watched the entire first season over a weekend (that's 24 shows in less than 48 hours). I was younger then and will most likely not have that opportunity again but ever since that experience, for some shows I will force myself to wait until the entire season is over and start watching it sequentially (usually 2-3 episodes per sitting). It's been the way I prefer to consume my favorite shows since all the way back to 2002 and I can't see myself going back.
There's a unique consequence to watching shows this way. Like cramming for an exam the night before, you are far more likely to forget parts of shows (entire episodes, plot lines, etc) with binge-watching than regular watching. This means you may very well be able to go back and re-watch them some day.