Consumers may not pay much mind to whether the content they’re watching on TV comes via an SVOD, AVOD, FAST or virtual pay TV provider. But Gracenote’s fifth annual State of Play Report finds that content search and discovery is still a major pain point for streaming viewers given a landscape where TV content is splintered across a wide array of apps and services – alongside the sheer volume of content available, where UX and recommendation algorithms continue to fall short.
To deal with that environment, a large majority of viewers say they want content options streamlined into a single guide.
The six-country study, released Thursday, surveyed 3,000 adult streaming viewers across Brazil, France, Germany, Mexico, the U.K. and the U.S. Gracenote found that nearly three-quarters (72%) of respondents want a single program guide that consolidates all of the content options available from across the streaming services they use – up from 66% that held that preference a year ago.
The desire for a single streaming guide is even stronger among younger streaming viewers ages 18-24 at 78%, also representing a larger increase from the 58% that said so in 2025.
The challenge for consumers is on two fronts for consumers: both in the ability to easily find titles they know they want to watch and being able to land on a new piece of content amid a vast sea of options when they don’t have a particular program in mind.
Per Gracenote, more than one in four respondents say they often or always miss a specific show, movie or sports event because they can’t find it – up from 24.7% a year ago. On the flip side, 19% say they often or always start a TV search without a specific show in mind, are unable to find something to watch and do something else instead.
Part of the issue is that there’s no shortage of content options spread across apps and services – with more than half of those surveyed by Gracenote saying the abundance of content and services makes it harder to find something to watch.
That’s also evident in how long people are browsing or searching before finding something to watch or abandoning their TV session altogether.
Gracenote’s survey found that on average viewers spend 12 minutes searching for something to watch – increasing to 15 minutes among those ages 18-24. And 47% say they search longer than they did a year ago.
Separately, new data from Hub Entertainment Research’s Conquering Content study also found struggles around knowing where to find content.
In the survey, 47% of viewers said it’s hard to differentiate the unique content each streaming service offers, while 56% wish it were easier to keep track of when new movies come out on streaming services.
Amid abundant content, streaming recommendations fall short
Also feeding into the challenge for consumers is that streamers’ content recommendation engines and efforts appear to continue to fall short of meeting viewers’ tastes and often don’t surface what’s available from across different services.
Per Gracenote, 31% say they haven’t found a good source of recommendations for their tastes and preferences.
This notion has surfaced before and is also supported by Hub Entertainment’s new survey, which found personal recommendations and trailers are still more effective than streaming algorithm recommendations at helping viewers find new favorites.
According to Hub, seven in 10 new favorite shows were first discovered through someone the viewer knows (29%), a trailer or clip (21%) or an ad or promo (20%). Just 14% came from a streaming service recommendation.
Too much choice and content overload may also be pushing viewers to revisit favorite familiar titles rather than tuning into something new.
Per Gracenote, 46.8% of respondents say the volume of streaming content and services lead them to rewatch shows and movies they’ve already seen instead of seeking a new title.
The report also showed viewers want their streaming services to offer visibility into content options across platforms. Nearly 70% surveyed want their services to tell them where to find a program, even if it’s available through another service.
“Viewers want one place to look, even when there are many places to watch,” said Ryan Moore, chief business officer at Gracenote, in a statement. “That starts with recognizing the same program across services and having accurate information about where to watch it.”
Of course, this feeds into Nielsen-owned Gracenote’s own capabilities, where its metadata helps power platform guides and other features for streamers.
But there are also other players in the space looking to help solve the content search and discovery struggle while carving out their own position.
That can be seen by TVOS platforms aggregating and surfacing content, including via dedicated content hubs for genres like creators or sports – as seen on Roku. Then there are those like JustWatch – which is already known for its Streaming Guide and just launched its own streaming service within the app with a larger aim to serve as content discovery hub for services across the ecosystem.
And while viewers appear to crave a more comprehensive view into what’s available and what they might like to watch across streaming – as well as easier ways to know where to find it – there might be business agreements or competitive reasons that prevent or disincentivize individual players from pursuing or collaborating more holistic content discovery solutions.
That said, there are risks for streamers absent progress on making content search and discovery easier and more effective for viewers.
Poor discovery, UX could push viewers to churn
Gracenote’s report indicates that if consumers are frustrated at finding content, it can mean potential churn risks for subscription streamers.
More than half of Gracenote survey respondents reported they would be very or somewhat likely to cancel a service if they can’t find programming that interests them.
As for those that have churned, price increases was the top-cited reason for cancelling a service (54.5%), but content discovery-related reasons also made the list.
Per Gracenote, nearly 40% have canceled a streaming service because they don’t use it enough to justify the cost (a sentiment which might be changed if content was more easily searchable or discoverable), while 28.2% canceled specifically because it was hard to find content.
And more broadly, a whopping 87.4% say user experience is very or somewhat important when deciding which services to keep.
“This desire for centralization and ease of navigation underscores a fundamental shift in audience expectations,” wrote Gracenote in the report. “Content remains a key driver of sign-ups, but user experience will determine whether viewers stay."
The notion aligns with earlier July consumer research from Hub Entertainment Research, which found that content discovery continues to be the biggest UX pain point for TV apps and more than one-third (36%) of viewers surveyed reported having canceled a TV streaming service not due to price or content but specifically because of a bad app experience. That jumps to 43% among those under 25 who reported the UX as the sole reason they’ve cancelled a streaming service.
“Viewers have plenty to watch, they just need better ways to find it,” stated Jason Platt Zolov, study author and Senior Consultant at Hub.