If you totaled all your hours of streaming video during the pandemic, how many days do you think they’d add up to? Ten? Thirty? That seems like a lot. But if you watched as much as the average person, that’s 45 days. At least according to a survey from Sykes. The business-process-outsourcing provider surveyed 2,000 people to ask them about their streaming habits over the past year.
Streaming has become a refuge, a distraction, a companion during long, undifferentiated days. It’s also an activity that people have literally invested in, with 71.70% of those surveyed saying they’ve subscribed to new streaming services since COVID-19 hit. (49.30% bought a new TV.)
Prior to the pandemic, streaming services themselves had invested in lots of new shows and movies, which has paid off. The top new picks over the past few months for those surveyed have been Tiger King (37.5%), The Mandalorian (29.05%), Ozark (27.95%), The Crown (27.7%), and Emily in Paris (19.2%). And there’s been no shortage of viewers sharing their favorites on social media, with practically an entire economy of memes cropping up.
There is comfort in the familiar: Since many people spend their workdays with streaming shows playing in the background (41.05%) or watch them right before they go to sleep, old favorites have been popular. Of those surveyed, 75.6% said they’ve been rewatching beloved shows during the pandemic. The top comfort watches of the pandemic are Friends (31.65%), The Office (27.50%), The Simpsons (26.7%), Schitt’s Creek (24.4%), and Grey’s Anatomy (21%).
Though there’s an end in sight to quarantine, with vaccines rolling out, 60% of those surveyed said they’re not changing their streaming habits anytime soon.
