A third of streaming audiences say the fragmented landscape of content and platforms is negatively impacting their experience, and 45 percent find the options “overwhelming,” according to Gracenote.
The division of Nielsen explores the discovery challenge in its 2025 State of Play report. Almost half of global streaming audiences—the study tracked behavior in the U.S., U.K., Germany, France, Brazil and Mexico —are willing to pull the plug on a service if they can’t find what they want.
The time-consuming nature of finding something to watch is making the viewing experience less enjoyable for consumers, Gracenote indicated. The average global time spent looking for something is 14 minutes; Americans have it down to 12 minutes, while the French are spending 26 minutes searching. Audiences—which are increasingly turning to quick, short bites of entertainment—will express their frustrations by moving on; this is especially the case for those in the 18 to 24 bracket.
Consumers overwhelmingly want a universal EPG of sorts —a single guide presenting information on content from all services and platforms —as they express frustration with the “unwieldy” and “hard to navigate” ecosystem today.
“Fragmentation isn’t going anywhere, but publishers have the opportunity to streamline content discovery journeys—even if it means helping viewers find something that another publisher distributes,” the report says.
