How Do Streaming Viewers Figure Out What to Watch?

The war for original content continues to escalate among the proliferating services in the video streaming landscape, and there are more movies and shows to watch than ever. Even if you need a personal bundle of monthly subscriptions to access them all.

Once you're logged onto your streaming app of choice, the hardest part is figuring out what to watch. In Nielsen's latest Total Audience Report, the company surveyed users across demographics on how they find what they want to stream. Nielsen found that, unlike cable TV viewers, who can easily and aimlessly flick through channels, the majority of streaming viewers know exactly what they want to watch.

Streaming interfaces suck; we all know content discovery is broken on these platforms. In that context, it's not as surprising that 66 percent of streaming users said they open Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, or any other streaming service knowing exactly what they want to watch. Another 33 percent said they have a rough idea of what they want to watch, and only 22 percent said they log on with no idea what they plan to watch (respondents could choose two options, which is why the percentages total more than 100).

As for actually browsing services and figuring out what to watch, Nielsen found that many streamers are "go-backers," meaning that if they can't decide on something (and haven't yet cut the cord), 58 percent of adults said they'll turn the TV on instead and tune to their favorite channels. Conversely, only 33 percent of adults say they regularly browse menus on subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) streaming services such as Netflix.

When you break down the demographics, those habits become clearer. The age-35-to-49 bracket is more likely to scan through TV channels, check the TV guide, and browse DVR recordings, while streaming viewers ages 18 to 34 are more apt to scroll through streaming interfaces and find content in other ways, such as watching short online clips first.

The younger generation is also more paralyzed by indecision. On average, respondents ages 18 to 34 said they spent 9.4 minutes simply searching for and deciding what to stream.

The content pile is vast and infinite, and we must all figure out our own way to slice it.

People Are Using Streaming Services More Than Cable