New TV trend alert: Are you a binge-racer?

When Stranger Things releases its second season, one Auckland man will be ready and waiting to watch the entire thing as fast as possible.

Twenty-seven-year-old Jonathon Pannekoek has been known to finish entire series within a day on multiple occasions, saying there's an element of competition to it. And he's not the only one.

Netflix says there's a new TV-watching trend which takes binge-watching a dramatic step further which they've dubbed "binge racing".

It's a term for when viewers "race" through series like Stranger Things, Narcos and more in as short a time as possible.

In total, 8.4 million Netflix members have binge raced at some point or another and it's getting more and more common with time. Between 2013 and 2016 the amount of launch day finishers increased more than 20 times over.

And New Zealand is ranked 15th globally for the highest percentage of binge racers in the world.

So what's the appeal?

"I think with brand new shows, particularly with things like the Marvel Netflix series that are pretty much guaranteed to have a big audience, there's a bit of competition or even pressure to just power through it...just to avoid spoilers online," Pannekoek says.

"But for me, I've always preferred to binge watch. I'm not super patient, I can't stand waiting a week for a new episode, I want to know what happens right now."

Sometimes he'll wait until a series has totally finished airing and then go back and watch it all at once to avoid the wait.

Next on his binge racing list is season two of Stranger Things, which is due to launch on October 27.

"That's another one of those high-octane cliffhanger shows that are like a book you can't put down. I can't imagine watching someone get attacked or kidnapped or something at the end of an episode and going, 'oh, well, that was enjoyable' and then just going about my business. I always need to know what happens next."

Health professionals around the world have warned against the dangers of binge watching with studies claiming links between it and depression, anxiety, insomnia, obesity and anti-social behaviours.

However, while there is a correlation, there is not causation; it's unclear whether those issues are caused by binge watching or vice versa. Some experts have argued that binge watching has positive effects, helping us decompress and destress, bringing us together if we watch as a group, or linking us into what's become our water-cooler chat.

"I think [binge watching] is pretty widely accepted, if not outright encouraged," says Pannekoek.

"Obviously there are bad sides to staying up all night watching TV if you have work or school in the morning, but if it's on the weekend then I don't see much of a problem with it.

"I don't dismiss the warnings or the dangers, but really, how many recreational activities are there that some health professional somewhere hasn't said is the worst thing you could do? People do much more dangerous things to themselves on the weekends than watching TV."

NZ's Top 10 Binge Raced Shows:

1. Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life
2. Marvel's The Defenders
3. Santa Clarita Diet
4. The Seven Deadly Sins
5. The Ranch
6. Fuller House
7. Atypical
8. White Gold
9. Friends from College
10. Frontier