Jeremy Siegel: You're listening to GBH's Morning Edition, but we are going to talk about what you watch and how you watch it. Whether you're scrolling through TikTok or watching Netflix with your teenage kid, you might be noticing more words on the screen. The use of subtitles is on the up. A recent study from YPulse found that more than half of young people preferred using subtitles when watching shows. So why the interest in reading what you're watching? For the answer, we are joined by Axios reporter April Rubin. April, good morning.
April Rubin: Hey, good morning. Thank you for having me.
Siegel: Thanks for coming on. So a large majority of young people are streaming with subtitles. We'll get into what's behind this in a bit. But first, how do the numbers break down?
Rubin: Yeah. So like you said, it is more than half of young people overall. Kind of by generation, the the survey showed that 59% of Gen Z respondents watch with subtitles and 52% of millennials do that. Something kind of interesting is that some of the millennials in that 52% said they were doing so to watch TV with their kids.
Siegel: Oh, wow. Yeah, it's interesting to think about that because, like, you even have people younger than Gen Z, like Gen Alpha, watching at the same time as their parents, and one generation influencing the other here. So our team has been talking about like what might be behind this. And for some of us, shows, more international shows that people might be watching on Netflix, have come up as a possible reason. Like here's a little bit of Peaky Blinders.
Cillian Murphy: I want you at the table, Frances. So make it 28.
Pauline Turner: We'll be busy.
Cillian Murphy: You've put up with me this past year, looked after Charlie when I've been on business. Tomorrow, you will eat at my table.
Siegel: Another example of this is the show Derry Girls.
Saoirse-Monica Jackson: We didn't do anything, we're innocent!
Nicola Coughlan: Like that matters, Erin, we're Catholics, for Christ's sake! Have you never seen In The Name Of The Father? They'll think nothing of sending us down for a crime we didn't commit!
Siegel: So these are shows that I can think of that I've watched where it can be difficult, at least when you're first starting to watch it, to exactly understand what people are watching. Is that what's behind higher use of subtitles? Is it more international accents coming in on shows, or is there something else going on?
Rubin: Yeah, that is absolutely one of the reasons behind it, according to the survey. And I laughed when you put Derry Girls on, because I'm a big fan of that one.
Siegel: It's a good show.
Rubin: It's great. The survey found that just kind of the increase in popularity of foreign-language TV shows among English-speaking watchers is part of it. Another thing is that viewers might have just gotten used to it through, for example, TikTok now has an auto caption feature that a lot of content creators will use. And so people are just a little bit more used to reading as they watch. Another factor that may play into this is that it has been a little tougher to maintain quality sound in the streaming era. So they could be watching subtitles just because they're missing some of the dialogue with background noise or changing volumes, things like that.
Siegel: That is something that I've thought about recently, where like all of this stuff happening in the background is so loud that to understand what you're actually hearing, you have to turn up your speaker so loud that it would absolutely like, destroy your neighbors next door to actually hear what people are saying. So this is kind of a personal question, but for you, do you think this takes away from the visual experience of watching things? Like if this is becoming more of the norm, I mean, of course, it's great for accessibility, if you're watching with somebody who might be hard of hearing and need subtitles to enjoy something you're watching. But does this change the tele-visual experience for people?
Rubin: Yeah, I think that's an interesting question and I think there are a lot of different opinions when it comes to this. Me personally, I never mind having subtitles on, and sometimes I will be the one to turn them on. If someone I'm watching with wants them, they're literally no problem with me. And I think that the accessibility factor is a big part of it, because it's not just people who might be deaf or hard of hearing, but it could also be someone who has auditory processing disorder or just has kind of a harder time focusing on things. And having that second method of confirming, is that what I caught? Or oh, I missed something, let me fill it in by reading. I think the accessibility kind of outweighs, maybe, the taking away from the visual experience. But I do understand, you know, that camp, where they're coming from. I don't know that necessarily movie creators are making it for their movies to be covered with captions. So I definitely think it comes down to personal choice and kind of, you know, respecting the people you're watching with.
Siegel: Well I was curious, reporting on a story like this, it's sort of seeing in real time the way that new media, you know, taking a huge importance with one generation — like if you have younger people who are constantly scrolling TikTok or scrolling TikTok a lot, maybe not even watching with the sound on in the first place, but just relying on, you know, the text coming over the screen, the visual cues, to enjoy what they're watching. And then older generations who are used to seeing movies with no captions. It's gotten us thinking also about like, could we someday see movie theaters with captions playing when you're seeing something in the theater? What's your takeaway, having reported on a story where you're watching in real time the way that one technology is influencing another and changing the way that we're entertaining ourselves?
Rubin: That's a great question. Maybe movie theaters could definitely, potentially be the next frontier. Kind of through my reporting on this, I did read about some advocacy groups that are pushing to make movie theaters more accessible to all viewers. So that could definitely be potentially what comes down the line.
Siegel: That's Axios reporter April Rubin reporting on the increase in the use of captioning, both in social media and in streaming movies at home. April, thank you so much for your time this morning.
Rubin: Thank you. Have a great day.
Siegel: You're listening to GBH's Morning Edition.
