# Longest you've ever viewed a single station **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 29, 2015, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-ever-viewed-a-single-station/718772 "2015-04-29T03:30:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-ever-viewed-a-single-station/718772/1 "2015-04-29T03:30:54Z")
I found out that [a retro network will air 20 straight hours of “One Day at a Time” for Mother’s Day.](http://blog.sitcomsonline.com/2015/04/antenna-tv-celebrates-mothers-day-with.html) Although I enjoyed the show, no way I’d ever watch more than a couple of hours of any program. Has anyone out there watched a single program for an incredibly long period of time, whether it be breaking news/entire telethon/rerun marathon or something else? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-ever-viewed-a-single-station/718772/2 "2015-04-29T04:09:20Z")
I don’t know if it counts as a “single program” but I’ve watched Super Bowl pregame shows from sunup until the game starts before. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-ever-viewed-a-single-station/718772/3 "2015-04-29T04:53:54Z")
I once watched the entire 7th season of Buffy the Vampire slayer that aired as a marathon. I had discovered the show a year or two earlier and had watched the first six seasons on DVD, so the timing worked out fairly well. ---
**Author:** ![journeyman\_southpaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5e9695/32.png) [@journeyman\_southpaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/journeyman_southpaw)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-ever-viewed-a-single-station/718772/4 "2015-04-29T05:32:25Z")
Back in the days before YouTube and when 24-hour music stations actually played videos, I watched entire 12-hour loops of programming a few times. Usually it was a “theme weekend” of some kind that I was interested in. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-ever-viewed-a-single-station/718772/5 "2015-04-29T05:44:01Z")
I watched a ST: NG marathon on New Years day (24hrs). Although, I admit, I was way too hung over to actually want to look for, and pay attention to, any good programing that might have been on at the time. I just wanted to stare at the TV and not have to use my brain and think about what’s going on with the plot line. ST: NG fit that bill nicely as I’ve already seen every episode a hundred times. Plus it was also nice to be able to take a nap on the couch, wake up mid episode, and know exactly what was going on. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-ever-viewed-a-single-station/718772/6 "2015-04-29T08:48:13Z")
A few marathons, over the years. Aside from the ones that were largely “background noise” (like during holidays), or that I was mostly just recording (on VHS, usually. Ah, memories…), I think the longest stretch of actually sitting down and watching every minute was for AMC’s Godzilla marathon, back in 1999, which was 12+ hours, including (IIRC) the broadcast premieres of the Heisei-series movies. Granted, I was also doing it as part of my MST3K group’s chat room regular “Home Game,” where we were riffing as it aired. There were only three of us left, at the end. After that…probably Olympic opening/closing ceremonies. Ever since 1994, although I _recorded_ but never actually found the time to _watch_ most of London’s. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-ever-viewed-a-single-station/718772/7 "2015-04-29T12:13:54Z")
No more than three hours and I’m not sure I even did that. I’ll watch all episodes of a show, but the only show I’ve ever binge watched was _Weeds_ – because we had to get the DVD back. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-ever-viewed-a-single-station/718772/8 "2015-04-29T12:31:26Z")
I will have The Walking Dead marathon on AMC on all day and all night. They usually have one before the season premiere each year. I will also watch Mad Men marathons. Harry Potter weekend on ABC family channel? I’m there, and Lord of the Rings weekend, too. I don’t sit and watch, slack jawed, from start to finish, but it’s on as background, and I usually get to see my favorite parts. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-ever-viewed-a-single-station/718772/9 "2015-04-29T12:33:29Z")
I watched the entire second season of _Homeland_ during a “free HBO” weekend. It was 10 or 12 hours or something. It was so good that I actually subscribed to HBO. But the next (and subsequent) seasons didn’t even come close. That second season ended on an intensely climactic high point that for story reasons, could never be reached again. They kept trying to top it, but the show just got weird after that. The guy, whose name I forget-- the returnee, the one whose loyalty was in question-- wore a suicide vest into the bunker with all the gummint VIPs and was just about to detonate it and blow up Capitol Hill when his cell phone rang and it was his daughter calling. That snapped him out of it. It was one of THE most intense TV moments I’ve ever experienced, and there was no way to top it. The series should have ended right there. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-ever-viewed-a-single-station/718772/10 "2015-04-29T12:40:47Z")
When the Olympics are on I will usually leave the TV on that channel for extended periods, and last time (London) I happened to be quite unwell with a lung infection so it was a welcome distraction in the middle of the night whenever I woke from a feverish dream to a bout of coughing. Having said that, I also watched DVDs in between boring bits, when it seemed to be 72 hours of diving, so it probably doesn’t really count within the OP’s rules. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-ever-viewed-a-single-station/718772/11 "2015-04-29T12:52:36Z")
> [@installLSC](#): > > I found out that [a retro network will air 20 straight hours of “One Day at a Time” for Mother’s Day.](http://blog.sitcomsonline.com/2015/04/antenna-tv-celebrates-mothers-day-with.html) Although I enjoyed the show, no way I’d ever watch more than a couple of hours of any program. Has anyone out there watched a single program for an incredibly long period of time, whether it be breaking news/entire telethon/rerun marathon or something else? Do general elections count? I’ve had the TV on from before the close of polls until the morning. And I’ll be doing so again this time. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-ever-viewed-a-single-station/718772/12 "2015-04-29T13:03:04Z")
Our cable box will automatically turn itself off after 8 hours of inactivity. I know there have been a few times, either a football Sunday or during the NCAA basketball tournament, where the box has turned itself off while I was watching because I hadn’t changed the channel all day. But I wasn’t necessarily watching the same program the whole time. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-ever-viewed-a-single-station/718772/13 "2015-04-29T14:18:21Z")
My mother made me watch [JFK’s State Funeral](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_funeral_of_John_F._Kennedy) in its entirety - November 25th, 1963. I’m sure it was on NBC, because that was the channel that gave us the best reception. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-ever-viewed-a-single-station/718772/14 "2015-04-29T15:44:50Z")
We watched a marathon of the original “Iron Chef” on Food Network, on New Year’s Day one year (maybe around 2000). I think that was around 16 hours or so. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-ever-viewed-a-single-station/718772/15 "2015-04-29T16:00:34Z")
by watching A Christmas Story for 24 hours you can look for all the details. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-ever-viewed-a-single-station/718772/16 "2015-04-29T16:09:47Z")
Not necessarily a station, since I mostly watch things online or from my video library, but I’m an archive binger. If I’m watching a series, I tend to watch it straight through, rather than switching around, so I’m usually watching the same thing for however long I watch. Five or six hours is probably the longest I’ve ever watched at a stretch with my full attention, and that’s only when I have a new series to plow through. When I’m sick or hurt enough to be strictly resting, I tend to put on a “comfort” show–something I’ve seen already and like and don’t have to think about much, like **Shakes** ’ ST:NG marathon–and leave it running as I drift in and out. I think the longest I’ve ever done that at a stretch was a couple of days, but I obviously wasn’t really watching it continuously for that long. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-ever-viewed-a-single-station/718772/17 "2015-04-29T16:21:16Z")
I was hospitalized and I didn’t have anything to read or my computer. So the TV was my only entertainment. I watched more TV in a month than I normally watch in a year. At one point, a cable channel was running a marathon of Hogan’s Heroes, which isn’t even a particular favorite of mine. But I watched seven episodes in a row. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-ever-viewed-a-single-station/718772/18 "2015-04-29T16:29:13Z")
FXX when they were showing the Simpsons marathon. The station wasn’t changed for days. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-ever-viewed-a-single-station/718772/19 "2015-04-29T16:44:31Z")
No one here watched for long stretches on 9/11? The Moon landing? ---
**Author:** ![SUZ\_MAC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8e8cbc/32.png) [@SUZ\_MAC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SUZ_MAC)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-ever-viewed-a-single-station/718772/20 "2015-04-29T16:58:47Z")
I did a marathon of Dexter for many, many hours. I had some pretty gnarly dreams that night. :eek: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-ever-viewed-a-single-station/718772.md?page=2)