Most TV Viewers Say They Stick to a Maximum of 10 Channels

September 5, 2013

This article is included in these additional categories:

Broadcast & Cable | Television

Digitalsmiths-number-channels-watched-on-TV-Sept2013Almost 9 in 10 TV viewers say they watch the same channels over and over again, finds a recent DigitalSmiths survey [download page] of adult viewers in the US and Canada. Given consumers’ stated interest in à la carte options and continued grumblings about the cost of pay-TV services, it’s interesting to see just how many channels TV viewers are watching on a regular basis. According to the DigitalSmiths report, among those viewers who stick to the same channels on a regular basis, 78.9% typically watch 10 channels or fewer.

How do those survey-based figures compare to actual data from a multi-channel service provider? Recent study results from Visible World using data shared by an unnamed provider indicate that the service’s heaviest TV viewers (top quintile) watch an average of 27 unique channels per day. That drops to 17 for the second quintile, 12 for the 3rd quintile, 8 for the 4th quintile, and 4 for the lightest viewers.

TV viewers don’t appear to be overwhelmed by the number of channels available to them, though, with only 28% of respondents to the Digitalsmiths study indicating that to be the case. About 7 in 10 spend 20 minutes or less searching (channel surfing) or scrolling through the guide looking for something to watch, presumably because they know which channels they prefer.

Still, more than 6 in 10 respondents indicate that they always (10.1%) or sometimes (53.4%) get frustrated when they’re trying to find something to watch on TV. Even so, 61% don’t use the search functionality provided when they’re trying to find the show, most commonly because they only watch a few channels and don’t feel the need to search (34.9%), or because they’re not interested in searching for TV shows and movies (26.1%).

Half of the respondents would be interested in having their channel guide show them programs based on their preferences and viewing interests. Among the roughly 1 in 5 who say their provider makes such personalized recommendations, the vast majority indicated that the recommendations were sometimes relevant or accurate.

About the Data: The survey was fielded by a 3rd-party researcher during Q2 among 1,850 adults.

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