It's useful to read articles in English, even if you don't understand every word - it will help you increase your vocabulary and keep up to date with things happening in English-speaking countries!

This page will be updated on Mondays. The first article is aimed at a B1 and upwards level and the second article is aimed at a B2 and upwards level

By Michael Dinich | Wealth of Geeks undefined

Too much of a good thing? Streaming service subscribers report that content overload and hidden fees are leading to frustration and subscription fatigue.

In fact, the new survey of 2,000 American streaming service subscribers revealed that the average person spends 110 hours per year scrolling through streaming services, struggling to find something worth watching — a stark reminder of the “too much content, too little time” dilemma.

Commissioned by UserTesting and conducted by Talker Research, the study revealed one in five believe it's harder to find something to watch today than it was 10 years ago. According to them, the underlying cause comes from being overwhelmed by too much content.

Many struggled with having larger content libraries (41%) and feeling like there's too much original content being produced (26%).

Watch Recommendations: A Double-Edged Sword

And although 75% appreciate streaming service algorithms serving them accurate recommendations, 51% admitted the quantity of recommended content is also overwhelming, explaining they want to watch everything recommended to them.

Nearly half (48%) do not have traditional cable anymore. And those that choose streaming platforms do so because they like the variety (43%), the shows they want to watch are not on cable (34%), and they find streaming more convenient for on-the-go viewing (29%).

However, people are generally dissatisfied with the current streaming services available. In fact, 51% would rather have more streaming service options — even if those options included ads.

When asked what their “dream” streaming platform would look like, top features included premium channels and networks for no added cost (40%) and an easy-to-navigate interface (39%).

Further, 52% said a platform's user interface plays a massive or significant role in their decision to subscribe.

The average person said all of the above should be available for no more than $46 per month — although 11% admitted they'd willingly pay over $100 per month for the service.

“The streaming landscape has evolved from solving the problem of content access to creating a new challenge of content discovery,” said Bobby Meixner, Senior Director of Industry Solutions at UserTesting. “Our research shows that despite advanced recommendation algorithms, viewers are spending nearly five full days each year just trying to decide what to watch–time that could be spent actually enjoying content.”

The study also found a number of frustrations streaming subscribers have experienced.

A substantial 79% expressed frustration with streaming services requiring additional subscription fees for select content.

When encountering those added fees, the majority (59%) are unlikely to pay and would instead look for content on a different platform they subscribe to (73%), give up and watch something else (77%) or consider canceling their subscription altogether (37%). Nearly one in five (19%) would sign up for a free trial of a platform to find a show they want to watch.

Respondents also showed disdain for platforms pulling shows without notice, which directly impacts loyalty.

Over the past year, 69% have opened a streaming service at least once to find the show they were looking for is no longer there.

Forty-four percent said they would likely end their subscription to a streaming service and subscribe to a new one just to continue watching a favorite show, and 56% would cancel that subscription as soon as they finish watching said show.

Challenges in Cancellation

But when canceling, nearly a quarter (23%) have experienced difficulties, claiming it's hard for them to find the cancellation option on the platform's website (39%) or that the cancellation process was overly-complicated with multiple steps (36%).

“We're seeing a fundamental shift in how streaming platforms need to approach user experience,” continued Bobby Meixner. “With 52% of subscribers saying interface design significantly impacts their subscription decisions, and 79% frustrated by hidden fees, streaming services must balance content abundance with accessibility and transparency to maintain subscriber loyalty.”

Survey Methodology:

Talker Research surveyed 2,000 American adults who subscribe to at least one streaming service; the survey was commissioned by UserTesting and administered and conducted online by Talker Research between Nov. 2 and Nov. 7, 2024.

By MARK KENNEDY and LINLEY SANDERS Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — If you're planning on ringing in the new year quietly at home, you're not alone.

A majority of U.S adults intend to celebrate New Year's Eve at home, according to a new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

“As I've gotten older over the last few years, it's like if I don't make it to midnight, it's not a big deal, you know?” says Carla Woods, 70, from Vinton, Iowa.

Nearly 2 in 10 will be celebrating at a friend or family member's home, and just 5% plan to go out to celebrate at a bar, restaurant or organized event, the poll found.

But many U.S. adults will celebrate the new year in a different way — by making a resolution. More than half say they'll make at least one resolution for 2025.

There's some optimism about the year ahead, although more than half aren't expecting a positive change. About 4 in 10 say 2025 will be a better year for them personally. About one-third don't expect much of a difference between 2024 and 2025, and about one-quarter think 2025 will be a worse year than 2024.

Relaxed New Year's Eve plans for many

Kourtney Kershaw, a 32-year-old bartender in Chicago, often fields questions from customers and friends about upcoming events for New Year's Eve. She said this year is trending toward low-key.

“A majority of who I've spoken to in my age range, they want to go out, but they don't know what they're going to do because they haven't found anything or things are just really expensive,” she said. “Party packages or an entry fee are like a turnoff, especially with the climate of the world and how much things cost.”

As expected, younger people are more interested in ringing in the new year at a bar or organized event — about 1 in 10 U.S. adults under 30 say they plan to do that. But about 3 in 10 older adults — 60 and above — say they won't celebrate the beginning of 2025 at all.

Anthony Tremblay, 35, from Pittsburgh, doesn't usually go out to toast the arrival of the new year, but this year he's got something special cooked up: He and his wife will be traveling through Ireland.

“I don't do anything too crazy for New Year's, usually. So this is definitely a change,” he said. “I wanted to do something unique this year, so I did.”

Woods will be working New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. She answers calls on The Iowa Warmline, a confidential, noncrisis listening line for people struggling with mental health or substance use issues.

“Holidays are really hard for people, so I don't mind working,” she said. “I'm passionate about it because I have mental health issues in the family and so being able to help people is rewarding to me.”

Younger Americans are more likely to make a resolution

Every New Year's also triggers the eternal debate about resolutions. A majority of U.S. adults say they intend to make a New Year's resolution of some type, but millennials and Gen Z are especially likely to be on board — about two-thirds expect to do so, compared to about half of older adults. Women are also more likely than men to say they will set a goal for 2025.

Tremblay hopes to lose some weight and focus more on self-care — more sleep, meditation and breathing exercises. “It's probably a good year to focus on mental health,” he said.

Many others agree. About 3 in 10 adults choose resolutions involving exercise or eating healthier. About one-quarter said they'll make a resolution involving losing weight and a similar number said they'll resolve to make changes about priorities of money or mental health.

Woods' resolutions are to stay social and active. As a mental health counselor, she knows those are key to a happy 2025 and beyond: “Probably one of my biggest resolutions is trying to make sure I stay social, try to get out at least once a week — get out and either have coffee or do something with a friend. That's not only for the physical but also for the mental health part.”

Kershaw, the bartender, says weight loss and better health are the top resolutions she hears people make. “Mental health is the new one, but I think it's high up there as well as with regular health,” she said.

She prefers more goal-oriented resolutions and, this time, it's to do more traveling and see more of the world: “I don't know if that's really a resolution, but that's a goal that I'm setting.”

And how will she welcome the arrival of 2025? Usually, she takes the night off and stays home watching movies with plenty of snacks, but this year Kershaw has a different plan, maybe one of the most Chicago things you can do.

This die-hard sports fan will be at Wrigley Field on Tuesday watching the Chicago Blackhawks take on the St. Louis Blues. “Hockey's my favorite sport. So I will be watching hockey and bringing in the new year,” she said.

The AP-NORC poll of 1,251 adults was conducted Dec. 5-9, 2024, using a sample drawn from NORC's probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 3.7 percentage points.

Sanders reported from Washington.

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