We’re All Half-Watching TV Now—and Hollywood is Writing For It

Want to know what I caught myself doing last night? I was sitting on the couch watching “The Housemaid” with Amanda Seyfried and Sydney Sweeney, popcorn in one hand, while I scrolled on my phone in the other. That’s when I realized — I was half-watching the movie. The little screen in my hand claimed the other half of my attention.

I'm not alone. According to Reviews.org's latest consumer research, 87% of Americans use their phone while watching TV.

Since this is the new norm for most TV viewers, Hollywood is quietly following suit and adjusting content accordingly.

87% is pretty high, and it makes sense when you zoom out. Phones have found a spot in virtually every setting — from the dinner table to the office — with 84% of respondents checking their screens within just 10 minutes of waking up.

This trend doesn’t only affect TV viewership but also how we live our daily lives.

According to the same consumer research, Americans check their phones 186 times per day on average. At that point, it's just how we live. But what does that mean for TV and movies — and how will they keep our attention?

Instead of fighting the distraction epidemic, studios are catering their content to it. And even actors are noticing.

In an interview with The Telegraph, actor Matt Damon described how Netflix is pushing filmmakers to pack action scenes heavily at the beginning and to reiterate the plot “three or four times in the dialogue because people are on their phones while they’re watching.”

This is a studio-level directive that is changing how writing and directing keep viewers engaged. Actress Jameela Jamil had a similar take, noting on “The Romesh Ranganathan Show” that “you have to acknowledge that people are on their phones the whole time they're watching telly, so you have to simplify the plot.” Jamil added that emotions and motivations must now be spelled out in dialogue rather than left to subtext.

Any creative shift risks a few losses, so what do we lose when we cater to this new audience behavior? TV and movies reward full attention; viewers miss the payoff of slow-burn pacing, visual storytelling, subtext, and meaningful silence.

When 87% of us are on our phones while watching TV, the payoff of a slow reveal just doesn't land the same way. A meaningful glance between characters goes unnoticed. Scenes that ask you to sit with ambiguity — like the final moments of “The Sopranos,” or almost anything in “Parasite” — get lost when half the audience is mid-scroll.

In the modern viewing experience, that delayed gratification gets traded for thrill sequences, high energy, and dialogue that spells it all out. It's a different kind of storytelling.

If you’re doomscrolling or online shopping while watching “The Odyssey” in theaters, you can bet there will be some sort of social punishment.

It's a bit ironic. Theaters, the one format that never adapted to distracted viewing, struggled commercially after 2020, while streaming platforms that leaned into it thrived. That's starting to change, though. Gen Z, the generation most glued to their screens, is now leading the comeback. Theater attendance among Gen Z grew 25% in 2025, the biggest jump of any age group, and 87% saw at least one movie in theaters in the past 12 months.

Don’t worry too much — all is not lost. There are still groundbreaking, patient, and attentive films being created; they are just a bit fewer and farther between. Slow, meditative films like Netflix’s “Train Dreams” recently earned four Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, as well as top-ten placements from the National Board of Review and the American Film Institute.

Audiences and critics still crave attentive filmmaking — that much is clear. And there are still viewing formats that demand full attention: live sports, breaking news, on-stage performances, and even watch parties haven’t gone anywhere.

Phone usage isn't going away — nearly 46% of Americans consider themselves addicted to their phones. But neither is quality filmmaking. Viewers still crave slow, emotionally moving, and dialogue-rich pieces, and hopefully that appetite encourages filmmakers to keep the art form alive.