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Let鈥檚 face it; turning off the TV has always been a challenge. It can be far too easy to watch endless reruns of 鈥淪einfeld,鈥� or episode after episode of 鈥淗ouse Hunters鈥� into the wee hours of the morning.

Now, with DVRs and online providers like Hulu Plus and Netflix, marathon TV-watching is easier than ever, and has led to a new phenomenon called 鈥渂inge watching鈥� 鈥� viewing several episodes or an entire season at one sitting.

鈥淭V watching used to be seen almost as a vice, a bad habit. If you sat on the couch, you were viewed as a couch potato,鈥� says John Jurgensen, an entertainment reporter for The Wall Street Journal. 鈥淣ow it鈥檚 a more personal and curated experience. People are able to watch what they want to watch, and aren鈥檛 just being fed what the networks are giving them.鈥�

In February, Netflix released its original series 鈥淗ouse of Cards,鈥� with the whole first season available at once, a nod to the fact that many people are too busy to carve out the same night each week to watch an episode, or don鈥檛 want to wait too long to find out what happens next.

The Nielsen Company, a television market research firm, reports that over the past six years Americans have become far more likely to view programs in nontraditional ways. While most still have at least one TV set, about 67 percent of those surveyed also get content from other devices, such as a computer or smart phone. Eighteen percent of those surveyed were considering subscribing to a new online television service.

Mr. Jurgensen, who writes about TV binge watching, admits he binge watches shows like HBO鈥檚 鈥淕irls,鈥� but says that after watching more than four hours of TV he feels a bit of a comedown, as if he has overeaten.

Not all critics are on board with this approach, however. Jim Pagels, a TV and film critic for Slate.com, feels viewing TV this way defeats the purpose. Episodes are written with self-contained story arcs, he explains, and viewers should be thinking about shows over the course of the week, allowing cliffhangers to hang.

But Jurgensen says bingeing is here to stay, and that online viewing has not only drastically changed TV鈥檚 business model but also the social aspect of watching it. 鈥淲hen you鈥檙e talking to your friends, there鈥檚 now a conversation about how you鈥檙e watching that鈥檚 almost equal to what鈥檚 happening in the show,鈥� he says. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a pressure to keep up, to be aggressive about whatever other people are bingeing on. You have to watch the 鈥榠mportant鈥� shows.鈥�