Workplace a hot spot for streaming
Survey shows how viewer habits are changing, but tough to track
Behold the versatile public restroom: It’s a refuge, a place to steel one’s nerves and, for some, a personal theatre.
According to new data from the video giant Netflix, about 12 per cent of Americans who watch television shows or movies outside of the home admit to having done so in a public restroom. And 37 per cent say they’ve watched at work. That’s according to the results of a survey commissioned by Netflix and conducted in the late summer by SurveyMonkey.
The poll was based on responses from tens of thousands of people around the world, including 1,600 Americans, balanced by age and gender. It found that two-thirds of Americans stream movies and TV shows in public.
The use of both smartphones and streaming services is on the rise, according to the Pew Research Center.
But details about how American viewing habits are changing are hard to find.
Streaming companies, including Netflix, have been reluctant to share such data except when it serves their own interests, and third-party trackers have been slow to catch up.
Still, the Netflix survey, released last week, provides some insight into a growing phenomenon: As Americans spend more time watching video on computers, smartphones and tablets, media consumption patterns and social customs are shifting.
“Disruption is occurring across the board,” said Lee Rainie, director of internet and technology research at Pew.
“It’s in businesses, it’s in social norms, it’s in the boundaries or lack of boundaries between public and private spaces.”
While some Americans who stream on the go admitted to watching shows and movies in restrooms, the place where streaming was most popular was in the air: 44 per cent said they watch on airplanes.
The next most common viewing lo- cation was the bus, where 40 per cent said they had streamed content. About 34 per cent said they had watched in a car and 31 per cent said they had watched on a train.
About12 per cent of Americans who viewed TV shows or movies in public were so distracted by what they were watching that they missed their stop on a bus or train.
Almost half, 44 per cent, say they’ve caught others watching them stream shows or movies. About one in five said they’ve cried or felt embarrassed while watching in public. And 11 per cent said they’ve had a show or movie spoiled by sneaking a peek of someone else’s screen.
Mexicans, Colombians and Chileans are the most emotional public binge-watchers. Germans, on the other hand, are least likely to say they’ve cried in public while watching a show.