A majority of viewers — 51% — said the difficulty in finding new content on TV can be frustrating, according to a new report from Comcast Advertising.
The report, titled Content Discovery in a Multiscreen World: Surfing and Scrolling in a Sea of Content, found nearly two out of three U.S. viewers spend more than six minutes searching for something to watch.
“In today’s unbundled world of TV, consumers face a lot of challenges when it comes to discovering content,” Comcast Advertising executive director of insights Travis Flood said. “The goal of TV, whether traditional or streaming, has always been to make audiences feel entertained, not frustrated or overwhelmed. This research provides actionable insights into the process so that content owners and streaming platforms can improve their offerings to enhance the content discovery experience and provide more value to their viewers.”
The report found that in an era of streaming and on-demand content, channel-surfing is still alive, with 72% of Americans saying they start their search by scrolling through a program guide or app.
Promos and native ads boost content consideration, according to 85% of U.S. viewers. The platform plays a role in picking content, respondents said, with 51% finding content recommended on the home screen.
The report also said that 94% of viewers said genre was a bit factor in choosing what to watch.
Recommendations from friends, family and co-workers also play a role in how viewers learn about new content.
Comcast said its entertainment operating system and its partners like Xumo try to make it simpler and easier for customers to find and watch their favorite programming across streaming apps, live channels, on-demand programming via voice search and an aggregated user experience.
“With so much great TV dispersed across an unprecedented number of connected platforms and services, watching TV has become burdensome for consumers,” Marcien Jenckes, president of Xumo and managing director of Comcast Advertising said. “Xumo’s goal is to remove this burden and make TV simple again. Our devices run on Comcast’s Entertainment OS, which makes watching TV easy through features like AI and human-driven show recommendations, FAST channel integration in our grid guide experience, and an unparalleled voice search capability.”
The research is based on a survey of 2,500 consumers age 18 or older in the U.S., U.K., and Europe in December 2023.
