Another big difference is the way we consume. "Watching TV" used to mean watching whatever was on in the current timeslot, which often meant flipping through channels until you found the least-bad thing you could tolerate.
In the last 10-15 years that style has all but disappeared* and been replaced with Netflix-style services (and maybe PVRs for sports fans and 60+), where you don't watch "TV" but watch "a show".
Browsing tiktok or YouTube might be the closest thing that people still do to channel flipping, but since it's customized and endless, there's never a need to settle for the "least-worst" thing you can find.
(* I'm sure there are people that still do this, but I'm saying this based on my circle of close family/friends, many of whom are non-technical).
Strongly agree with all of that. When I hear people complain online about all the different streaming services, I assume they're very young and didn't have to suffer through "appointment viewing" and "channel flipping" and watching "whatever's on". And a third of it all was commercials.
The fact that many people still watch TV that way baffles me.
In the last 10-15 years that style has all but disappeared* and been replaced with Netflix-style services (and maybe PVRs for sports fans and 60+), where you don't watch "TV" but watch "a show".
Browsing tiktok or YouTube might be the closest thing that people still do to channel flipping, but since it's customized and endless, there's never a need to settle for the "least-worst" thing you can find.
(* I'm sure there are people that still do this, but I'm saying this based on my circle of close family/friends, many of whom are non-technical).