I don’t think we needed a study to tell us what we already know… we spend so much time trying to figure out what to watch on TV rather than actually watching it.
A study by Nielsen’s Gracenote has found that due to the enormous amount of options on streaming services we waste more time than ever just scrolling through. On average, viewers spend 10.5 minutes picking a show to watch on streaming services. Bloomberg notes that this average was just over seven minutes about two years ago.
The reason why viewers are taking longer to find something to watch is a mixed bag. People are spoiled for choice, with a 39% increase in titles available on streaming services since 2021. But navigating 2.35 million movies and shows over dozens of sites has become overwhelming. The number of streaming providers has jumped from 118 to 167 in the last two years, and per TV Tech, streaming accounted for almost 40% of TV usage in July.
As someone who gets overwhelmed with too many options, the stress is real when trying to decide what to watch. This happened to me the other night where I wasted about 20 minutes trying to choose a show only to settle on Kitchen Nightmares.
Which streaming platform do you tend to favor? And do you have a show recommendation, so I can just pick something next time I find myself mindlessly scrolling through Netflix?
