Not surprisingly, many people give very little thought to how they use their television remote, let alone remote programming. Just the process of turning up the volume without changing the channel is enough to think about. When they think about trying to choose between buying a Samsung remote control and a Magnavox remote control, or opening up one of those hefty remote manuals just to teach themselves enough remote programming to get back to their episode of Game of Thrones, most people’s eyes glaze over in despair.
However, there are a few ways of understanding TV remote controls without having to become a scholar on the subject. For example, if you’ve ever felt stupid for misplacing your remote control in a bizarre place, you’re not alone. Over 4% of missing TV remote controls are found in the fridge or freezer, and another 2% are found outside or in the car. In fact, sometimes the problem of a missing remote gets so bad that people end up never using the device that they need the remote for ? over 20% of Americans suffer from such a dilemma.
Between the Panasonic remote control, the Bluetooth TV remote control, the Philips remote control, etc., there are more remote control brands on the market than many of us know what to do with. When you factor in replacement remote controls, it’s a wonder anyone can keep track. On average, we seem to get by with around two ? out of 160 million U.S. households that have a TV, around 335 million TV remote controls are used, or about 2.1 remotes per household on average. We use them to choose between the average 189 channels we receive, regularly tuning into an average of 17.
Despite the inconvenience of losing one’s remote control, people don’t seem to be pining for a repeat of the “Lazy Bone.” This was the very first TV remote, which connected to the TV via a wire. It wasn’t until 1955 that the first wireless remote was introduced, and a while later that remote programming became the economic force and domestic vexation that it is today. Rather, it seems that many people are more eager to see TV remotes become even more technologically advanced. Between 47% and 59% of consumers agree that adding a touch screen to their remote would be an improvement. When you consider the rise of Apple TV and the upcoming tvOS, it seems that we’re in for a new era of figuring out how to work the darn TV remote.
