The Battle for Commuters’ Eyes (and Ears)

Have commuters fallen in love with offline TV? And will that kill podcasts?

I took a London underground train at rush hour yesterday, for the first time in… well, pretty much as long as I can remember. I took the Central Line from St Paul’s to Stratford at around 6:15 p.m., and it was busy enough that I didn’t get a seat until Mile End, but not quite the sardine-packed experience of yesteryear.

A woman next to me, I noticed, was watching TV on her mobile phone. Whenever I see someone glued to their screen, I like to try and work out what they’re watching, which is kind of invasive, but I think we all do it. (I will also try and see what podcast you’re listening to, and hope that it’s one of mine.) She was watching Channel 4’s Stath Lets Flats, presumably on the All4 app. As the train trundled on, I noticed that a man on my left was watching an old-timey black-and-white movie, which I thought was kind of cool, until I realised that he was actually watching Wandavision, available via Disney+. I turned to my right and saw that the woman next to me was watching a South Asian film or TV show which I couldn’t confidently identify, on I’m not sure what streaming service.

The man opposite me was also watching something on his phone, though I, for obvious reasons, couldn’t see…