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TechStreaming

People Would Rather Stream TV Than Brush Their Teeth

By
Benjamin Snyder
Benjamin Snyder
Managing Editor
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By
Benjamin Snyder
Benjamin Snyder
Managing Editor
Down Arrow Button Icon
May 19, 2016, 12:46 PM ET
Roku Inc. CEO Anthony Wood Unveils New Streaming Devices
The Roku 3 television streaming player menu is shown on a television in Los Angeles, California, U.S., on Thursday, Sept. 12, 2013. Roku Inc. announced an all-new family of streaming players, Roku LT, Roku 1 and Roku 2, which are designed to provide a better TV experience. Photographer: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesPhotograph by Getty Images

As National Streaming Day approaches on May 20, a recently released survey shows that about a fifth of adults care more about streaming television than brushing their teeth.

In fact, about 21% said they would rather give up brushing their teeth for an entire week than not be able to stream television, according to Roku. Among other results, 16% said they would rather give up showering, 50% said coffee, 67% said navigating with a GPS, and 70% said using social media.

“We’ve been excited about National Streaming Day all week and as May 20th approaches, we wanted to know more about your streaming habits,” according to Roku in its blog post. “So, we conducted a survey to better understand what makes streamers tick.”

But that’s not all: The survey asked respondents about their “fear of missing out” or FOMO as an important factor in using streaming services. About 28% said they’ve even lied about streaming a movie or television show in order to fit in with a group of people during conversation. Meanwhile, 40% said they’ve cancelled plans just to stream a program.

The survey and National Streaming Day comes as streaming services like Roku, Netflix (NFLX) , and Hulu are gaining ground on traditional methods for people to watch television and movies.

 

The survey was conducted by MACRO on behalf of Roku from April 27 to May 1. It included 2,824 adults above the age of 18 living in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Mexico, according to CNet. Notably, those who responded to the survey had used Roku or another streaming service in the past 30 days.

About the Author
By Benjamin SnyderManaging Editor
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Benjamin Snyder is Fortune's managing editor, leading operations for the newsroom.

Prior to rejoining Fortune, he was a managing editor at Business Insider and has worked as an editor for Bloomberg, LinkedIn and CNBC, covering leadership stories, sports business, careers and business news. He started his career as a breaking news reporter at Fortune in 2014.

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