Audio Video News

Video Trends Report: Frustration Runs High Over Content Discovery

Bob Ankosko  |  Oct 12, 2023

If you hate opening multiple apps to search for something to watch, you’re not alone. According to TiVo’s latest Video Trends Report, finding TV shows and movies to watch remains a major thorn in the side of Americans and Canadians who simply want to sit down to watch TV without the hullabaloo.

Almost two-thirds (60%) say they typically open more than one app before settling on something to watch — a task that more than half find annoying. And the report found that only two in ten (18%) of those surveyed know what they want to watch when they sit down in front of the big screen.

Respondents to the TiVo survey report using a whopping 10.9 video sources on average, which is actually a decrease from the 11.6 average reported in TiVo’s fall 2022 survey and a sign that viewers may have reached their limit. Breaking things down further reveals a generational component with younger people using even more sources, as illustrated in the chart below.

There’s also a significant difference between Americans and their Canadian counterparts with U.S.-based survey participants reporting 12 sources, compared with 7.1 for those who live up north. How many TV/video sources do you rely on?

Supporting the notion that we’ve reached our limit when it comes to the number of sources/apps we get our TV from, the survey found that video spending has declined almost $20 since last fall, dropping from an average of $189.38 to $170.86. And it comes as no surprise that cable/pay-TV subscribers tend to evaluate what they spend on TV services more frequently than those who get TV solely through streaming.

In another key finding, local content remains an important factor when it comes to making decisions of where to get content, with viewers spending almost a quarter (23%) of their viewing time watching local content, including sports, news, and weather.

The survey also found that word-of-mouth recommendations from family and friends remain as “strong as ever, inching out commercials as the most common method of discovery in the spring of 2023.”

Of course, the underlying theme of the TiVo report is that despite all of the shortcomings noted above, our love affair with TV/movies remains as strong as ever with average viewing times remaining steady at more than 4.7 hours a day as people continue to value video content as an essential form of entertainment. Free-ad-supported-television (FAST) channels, in particular, continued to thrive during the first half of 2023, with Tubi topping Roku as the most watched FAST service.

The Q2 2023 TiVo Video Trends Report is based on a survey of 4,518 Americans and Canadians conducted during the first half of the year.

COMMENTS
barfle's picture
Submitted by barfle on October 19, 2023 - 6:40am

Once upon a time, I wanted access to everything, right down to 8-tracks. These days, while I appreciate the variety available, everyone wants to pigeon-hole their content in a channel with not a lot more to offer. I have about a dozen “channels” on my Roku, about half of which I pay a subscription for. While each individual channel isn’t all that expensive, it adds up, along with cable and physical media. Even then, there are shows I can’t watch, so I’m starting to get used to missing out.

Not sure when I’ll cut back, but I’m looking at it.

3ddavey13's picture
Submitted by 3ddavey13 on October 23, 2023 - 2:29pm

Nothing makes tv watching simpler than a good guide, something lacking from most streaming services. This is one area where DirecTV excels (Optimum/Cablevision is terrible). Streaming is great if you know exactly what you want to watch, just type a name in the search engine and you're ready to roll. But if you're channel surfing, it's a nightmare.

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