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  • - 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.

- I can watch your show, you can watch my show.

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