---
title: How Many Episodes Does It Take to Get Hooked on a TV Show?
description: How Many Episodes Does It Take to Get Hooked on a TV Show?
---

[Minitab Blog](https://blog.minitab.com/en/blog)

# [How Many Episodes Does It Take to Get Hooked on a TV Show?](https://blog.minitab.com/en/blog/michelle-paret/how-many-episodes-does-it-take-to-get-hooked-on-a-tv-show)

 Written by [Minitab Blog Editor](https://blog.minitab.com/en/blog/author/minitab-blog-editor) | Nov 5, 2015 5:00:00 AM

I have two young children, and I work full-time, so my adult TV time is about as rare as finding a Kardashian-free tabloid.  So I can’t commit to just any TV show. It better be a *good* one. I was therefore extremely excited when [Netflix analyzed viewer data](https://pr.netflix.com/WebClient/getNewsSummary.do?newsId=2606) to find out at what point watchers get hooked on the first season of various shows.

Specifically, they identified [the episode at which 70% of viewers](http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/sep/25/netflix-knows-which-episodes-get-you-hooked-to-a-series) who watched that episode went on to complete the entire first season. Translation for me: if I can tell early on if I’m going to like a show, I’m game. If the vast majority of viewers get hooked on *The Walking Dead* and all its zombie apocalypse gore-galore after just 2 episodes and I’m not feeling it by then, I’ll call it a day and move onto the next “it” show.

## Which shows get you hooked the fastest?

Although there weren’t any shows where episode 1 was all it took—although I’m pretty sure *Downton Abbey* had me at the opening scene—there were many shows that came close.

*Bates Motel, Breaking Bad, Scandal, Sons of Anarchy, Suits, The Killing,* and *The Walking Dead* tied for the No. 1 spot, each taking only 2 episodes until you’re hooked. *Dexter, Gossip Girl, House of Cards, Marco Polo, Orange is the New Black,* and *Sense8* came in next at 3 episodes each.

As for which shows take the longest, *Arrow* and *How I Met Your Mother* required the biggest level of commitment to get hooked, at 8 episodes. However, I noticed that both of these shows were similar in that they had some of the highest numbers of total episodes at 23 and 22, respectively. This got me thinking – does the total number of episodes have an impact on the number of episodes it takes someone to get hooked?

## Afraid of a Big Commitment, Anyone?

To see if the total number of episodes has an impact on the number of episodes until you’re hooked, I used [Minitab Statistical Software](http://www.minitab.com/products/minitab) to graph the total number of episodes in season 1 versus the episode hook number.

I also ran the corresponding correlation test, which yielded a p-value of 0.000. Therefore, we can conclude that there is a statistically significant correlation between the two variables. The more episodes in a season, the more episodes it takes until 70% of viewers complete the entire season.

However, every good data analyst knows that [correlation does not equal causation](https://blog.minitab.com/blog/adventures-in-statistics/four-tips-on-how-to-perform-a-regression-analysis-that-avoids-common-problems?hsLang=en). So rather than presuming folks are less likely to make the commitment to view a long season, it could simply be due to the fact that the more episodes there are the greater the opportunity there is a for a person to bail on the series—thus taking longer to hit the 70% barometer that Netflix used for their study.

Now to decide which show to watch next…when I find the time…

[View full post](https://blog.minitab.com/en/blog/michelle-paret/how-many-episodes-does-it-take-to-get-hooked-on-a-tv-show)

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