The Reconnection Gap in Streaming · Luis Polanco · Product Management
The method
Fielded on Pollfish. 100 completes, US adults 18 to 64, streaming device or smart TV users. Fifteen questions. Every percentage on this page is against that base of 100.
Three things were asked, in this order. What problems do you have, asked before showing any feature so the concepts could not plant them. How interested are you in each feature. And which three of the nine would you keep if your TV could only have three. That last question is the one that matters. Saying you like something is free. Choosing three out of nine means giving up six, and that is where real demand shows up.
Every feature used an identical format and the same five-point scale, and the feature order was fixed.
The process
The end goal was to identify whether these concepts resonated, and whether there should be further exploration or investigation on them.
Screened out anyone who does not watch through a streaming device or smart TV.
Asked what problems they have, before showing a single feature.
Captured which devices they use.
Walked them through all nine feature ideas, one at a time, and asked how interested they were in each.
Asked for their top three.
Asked in their own words which ones they would use, and what else they wish their TV could do.
Asked what they would allow their TV to do.
Full results
Interest distribution
Feature
Very
Somewhat
Neutral
Not very
Not at all
Catch Me Up (Story Aware)
41%
37%
14%
6%
2%
Who Is This
42%
38%
13%
5%
2%
Come Back
21%
25%
25%
19%
10%
Fit My Time
11%
27%
12%
31%
19%
Watch Together
19%
29%
15%
19%
18%
Room Match
21%
28%
19%
14%
18%
Shop the Scene
13%
27%
16%
23%
21%
Follow Me Back
23%
30%
15%
11%
21%
Don’t Stop Now
12%
27%
25%
22%
14%
Ranked top three, by gender and age
Feature
Everyone (100)
Men (46)
Women (54)
Under 45 (41)
45+ (59)
Catch Me Up (Story Aware)
72%
74%
70%
68%
75%
Who Is This
58%
52%
63%
61%
56%
Come Back
37%
26%
46%
17%
51%
Fit My Time
24%
33%
17%
29%
20%
Watch Together
22%
28%
17%
32%
15%
Room Match
16%
11%
20%
22%
12%
Shop the Scene
16%
15%
17%
17%
15%
Follow Me Back
14%
24%
6%
12%
15%
Don’t Stop Now
12%
15%
9%
15%
10%
Ranked top three, by platform
Feature
Everyone (100)
Fire TV (29)
Roku (45)
Smart TV (58)
Apple TV (12)
Catch Me Up (Story Aware)
72%
72%
71%
76%
67%
Who Is This
58%
48%
49%
55%
67%
Come Back
37%
38%
33%
40%
0%
Fit My Time
24%
34%
27%
22%
33%
Watch Together
22%
24%
22%
24%
42%
Room Match
16%
10%
27%
21%
25%
Shop the Scene
16%
7%
16%
16%
25%
Follow Me Back
14%
17%
13%
12%
17%
Don’t Stop Now
12%
24%
13%
10%
17%
Pain points, households with children under 18
Pain point
Everyone (100)
With kids (22)
No kids (78)
I come back to a show after weeks away and forget what happened
60%
68%
58%
I drop shows entirely and never come back to them
45%
55%
42%
I lose interest partway through an episode and quit
40%
59%
35%
I want to watch something but don’t have time for the full episode
36%
55%
31%
I forget who a character is while watching
22%
23%
22%
My household argues about what to watch
14%
41%
6%
I fall out of sync with people I watch shows with
12%
27%
8%
Permissions
Asked with no feature attached. Selections total more than the base because respondents who allowed capabilities often allowed more than one. No one who selected None of the above selected a capability.
Capability
Would allow
Analyze what’s in the picture while you watch
40%
Know when you leave the room
22%
Know who’s in the room
16%
None of the above
48%
Sample
Age
Respondents
18 to 24
4%
25 to 34
10%
35 to 44
27%
45 to 54
24%
55 to 64
35%
Gender
Respondents
Female
54%
Male
46%
Household
Respondents
Children under 18 at home
22%
No children under 18 at home
78%
Devices used
Multi-select, so people own more than one.
Device
Selected
Smart TV apps (Samsung, LG, Vizio)
58%
Roku stick or box
25%
TV with Roku built in (TCL, Hisense)
25%
Fire TV Stick
21%
TV with Fire TV built in
14%
Apple TV
12%
Game console
12%
Chromecast or Google TV
7%
Other
3%
Fire TV Cube
1%
Comments
Comment themes
Which features would you use and why
Mentions
Catching up on a show
32%
Identifying characters
14%
Watching with someone else
11%
Rejected the premise
11%
Shortening an episode
6%
Shopping what’s on screen
5%
Avoiding spoilers, raised unprompted
2%
What else do you wish your TV could do
Mentions
Ads
6%
Catching up, described without being shown a feature
5%
Search across services
5%
Privacy
3%
Selected comments
Catching up
Catch up as my memory is not what it used to be.
I would use the quick recap because they would be faster than me looking it up on my phone.
Over time there’s been a number of shows I wanted to watch but had already missed multiple episodes or a season or seasons
I’d use the recap features to remember where I left off on a show I haven’t seen in a while, it sounds much easier than having to go back and skim through previous episodes.
Identifying characters
Sometimes I get confused about the characters if they look similar
Who the characters are. I have a bad way with names
I would use the one that explains characters and names especially big shows like game of thrones
Figure out who’s who
Watching with someone else
Room Match would be the best for me and my husband, who struggle sometimes to find things we would both watch.
I am more drawn to the ones that get you and people you are watching together up to speed.
Spoilers, raised unprompted
CATCHING UP WITHOUT SPOILERS
they are very convenient and dont give any spoilers for the show
Rejected the premise
I don’t like features that mess with the intended viewing of a show.
Ones that respect the integrity of the show and don’t try to condense the experience.
Companies are creating a need for something that isn’t there. It’s kind of like bottled water.
Ads
All the streaming services I use have ads so it would be nice if the TV could tell me exactly when the ads are going to be so I can better time my bathroom breaks, snack breaks
Skip ads like on YouTube, fast forward the ads
Turn the volume down for commercials so I don’t have to mute
Stop targeting ads
Catching up, described without being shown a feature
A quick refresher to get me up to speed after I have been away from the show for a while
Keep better track of shows I’ve watched and what episode I left off
Let me pause and get more information about what they are talking about that happened in the last season
Personalize scene summaries
Search across services
I wish it could search for movies I want to watch on services I don’t have
I would like to be able to tell the device what show and episode I want to watch and it takes me there
Voice activated searches
Privacy
I don’t know of anything that isn’t just plain creepy
I definitely don’t want it tracking my movements
Leave me alone and let me just watch TV regardless
Notes on the data
Top three was asked as a maximum. 80 picked three, 11 picked two, 9 picked one. The ranking is the same either way.
Every number is an unweighted count of the 100. Weighting by age and gender moves no rank except Fit My Time and Come Back, which trade third and fourth.