- I can watch your show, you can watch my show.
We can always have a book club.
- Better have something to say.
- Bonding over streaming shows.
- I love that.
- [Narrator] The days of literal water cooler conversations
may be thing of the past.
But we have more conversations than ever
about our favorite shows
and with the onslaught of streaming platforms,
there's no shortage of choices when it comes
to what to watch.
In fact, it takes the average viewer 7.4 minutes
to decide that to watch.
By that metric, the average daily viewer spends
over 45 hours a year paralyzed by overwhelming choices.
So what happens at the end of that 7.4 minutes?
How do we decide what to watch?
Before streaming television,
we didn't have a whole lot of choice in what to watch.
- [Announcer] Season premiers on CBS.
- [Narrator] Or when to watch it.
- [Announcer] All new must see TV, Thursday.
- [Michelle] Friday.
- So it's no surprise that over 70%
of consumers believe streaming subscriptions
offer better services over traditional television.
But even in the age of the algorithm,
humans still play a key role in recommending content
and platforms like Netflix
and HBO now offer even more tools
that include streaming recs curated by humans.
That's because people still trust other people
when they wanna know what to watch.
What has TV done for you lately?
- What has TV done for me lately?
I'm a sucker for rich people with problems.
(Ben laughs)
For me, personally, it was the slap
in this season of Succession when it stopped on a time.
I thought that was the greatest part of this season.
Okay here we go, here we go.
- Oh, I think it was pretty clear that I was talking--
- Oh, no, no, it was clear, yeah.
You tortured the old dinosaur,
you barbecued him live, hmm?
- Don't (beep) with me. - Damn!
- Right there.
Oh my god.
I do not espouse violence,
I think it's bad in all forms,
but god dammit, that was good.
The scene, for me, shows that in a household,
you can be angry with somebody
but somebody else gets the wrath.
My dad was mad at my sister once,
and then he threw a ham sandwich at me.
I've lived a life.
I've lived a life (laughs). - Oh.
You might have me go watch Succession now.
- Please do.
- So I gotta say for me,
the season finale of Handmaid's Tale season three.
There is this insane tension that Handmaid's Tale
has been able to capture where June comes up
with this weird plan, get these kids out of Gilead.
- [Moira] I'm here to help you.
- [Angelique] This is really set up on this idea
that they are precious cargo.
There's a lot of thought and intention.
- [Moira] This will keep you warm.
You've gotta be cold.
Here.
What's your name?
- This moment where she realizes that's her dad,
this emotion within emotion within emotion
and then you have this moment.
(man speaks in foreign language)
- Somehow they magically gave you relief
while also keeping that elbow right
on the back of your neck.
- It doesn't get resolved.
- This is the most emotional baggage claim moment
I have ever witnessed.
- There is demand for better quality
across the board on streaming devices.
So what about you?
There's gotta be some unforgettable moments for you.
- So this season of Euphoria.
It is about drugs and escape and dreams and delusion,
really happy stuff.
Whoa, teenagers are doing this (beep)?
This is crazy. - Right, right.
- This scene is at a carnival in town.
The space is reflecting their mental space
as we dolly in, boom.
It all goes into the shallow depth of the field
portraiture illuminated by this crazy light show--
- Ferris Wheel, yeah. - Around her
that is both a disorientation and euphoria of adolescence.
- What is it about these TV series that hooks us?
- Dramatically different settings
and context and characters in situations,
but everyone of these things we felt
at some point in our life.
Universal emotions that make us all uncomfortable,
a little on edge and it puts us
in the hands of the filmmakers.
- It is emotional.
Like it invokes some kind of emotion from us
that attaches us to that moment, right?
Right.
- What I do like is the shareability now of TV.
You can tell me about this,
and I've been on the fence about watching Euphoria.
I'm like, "Do I watch it?"
I understand the make-up game with the eyes,
the kids look super buff
and I'm like, "That wasn't my high school experience,"
but I'm willing to try it.
I wanna see what the fuss is about.
- Right.
And the same way with Handmaid's Tale.
But I like you and I like you,
and I'm willing to give them a chance because of it
and that's what great about that shareability.
- [Narrator] And sharing our favorite shows
might be the fastest way
to avoid that seven minutes of indecision
because even though the algorithms try their best,
we still trust humans more often.
And according to a well-known
Columbia University study about choice,
people are more inclined to make decisions
when they have less options.
Think about it.
When asking your friends what to watch,
they suggest three or four faves
not hundreds of options.
So since streaming libraries only continue to grow,
human recommendations are more important than ever.
Or at least helps you reclaim that 7.4 minutes
of indecision from your day.