Hate-watching is the activity of watching a television show or film with the intention of acquiring amusement from the mockery of its content or subject.[1] Closely related to anti-fan behaviours, viewers who partake in hate-watching derive pleasure and entertainment from a show's absurdities or failures.[2] The act of hate-watching is premised on the audience engaging with media through a satirical lens.[2]
Contrary to typical fan behaviour where audience members consume a piece of media with the intent to acquire pleasure from its contents, the pleasure anti-fans derive from a piece of media is rooted in its perceived shortcomings.[2]
In a study conducted in 2005 on Television Without Pity, a since-defunct website that hosted discussions about television shows, Gray points out the patterns of anti-fan behaviours exhibited by its users. Unlike individuals who participate in fandom culture out of love for a particular piece of media, anti-fans engage with a piece of media out of dislike for it. The forums hosted on Television Without Pity expressed anti-fan sentiments where users would watch a television show, often critiquing and pointing out its perceived shortcomings.[3]
A 2012 article from The New Yorker described the short-lived Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip as a show people loved to hate-watch, as "it was bad in a truly spectacular way—you could learn something from it, about self-righteous TV speechifying and failed satire and the dangers of letting a brilliant showrunner like [Aaron] Sorkin run loose to settle all his grudges in fictional form".[4]
Entertainment Weekly and other publications noted the difference between hate-watching and watching as a guilty pleasure.[5] "You wouldn't tune in every week to hate-watch a really bad reality show—that's a guilty pleasure. Generally speaking, hate-watching requires a TV series with high ambitions and features a certain amount of aesthetic perfection".[6]
In a Los Angeles Times article describing the complexity of effects of U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump's appearance on Saturday Night Live as host, writer Mary McNamara references the hate-watching phenomenon as a reason that ratings alone are not an indication of support.[7] An article from The New York Times also pointed out the successful ratings for Trump's presidency.[8]
In a February 2020 article, Spanish television reviewer Borja Terán described the concept of hate-watching as "enjoying watching shows to be able to criticize them", citing it as part of the reason behind the success of Telecinco and its reality show-based lineup (specifically mentioning Supervivientes, the nineteenth season of which had premiered the night prior to the post): "the viewer feels superior to the guinea pigs taking part in the televised competition. They feel better with themselves and evade from personal problems by spending energy torpedoing a mere entertainment they follow through a screen."[9]
As the term gained popularity, many anti-fans have asked others to not hate-watch, as they believe doing so will have the unintended effect of making the media they dislike seem more popular than if they had not hate-watched.[10] Velma is one such example of this phenomenon, where hate-watching is supposedly the lead cause of the show being renewed for a second season.[11]