Scott Bryan: Why is it so hard these days to find something to watch?

Open a TV app. Loud trailer. Ugh. Mute. Scroll right, scroll left. Scroll down. Close app. Open another TV app. Left. Right. Click play by mistake. Nine adverts before it starts? God.

While the streaming age has revolutionised the way we consume television, and given us more choice than ever, a tedious consequence is that we’re spending a great deal of our time scrolling through endless menus trying to find something to watch. And rather than everything in one app, it’s all over the place.

Want something from the BBC? It’s BBC iPlayer. ITV? It’s ITVX. Channel 4? It’s 4OD. No wait, it’s All 4. No wait, it’s Channel 4 again (for now). Or maybe you have to head to Netflix, as the streamer has some choice cuts from PSBs’ back catalogues.

Some attempts have been made to help audiences navigate this confusing hellscape. The Apple TV+ app remembers what you have watched and sets up the next episode for you, even if it comes from a PSB. But fancy that, Apple’s own content is usually front and centre. Oh, and you won’t find Netflix content there, as Apple is not playing ball with one of its rivals.

Sky also collates your existing viewing through Sky Q or Sky Glass, even providing recommendations based on your viewing habits. Yet you can only do that through a television and, as it is Sky, only if you happen to be locked into a subscription.

Wouldn’t it be nice if all the broadcasters came together to work on a single website and app that has all your TV content in one place? A user-friendly experience that you could access on any device, on mobile or through the television, making it easy for you to pick up a show from where you left off?

A service that would provide a level playing field for the broadcasters too, a gold standard user interface that is simple and easy to use?

“Project Kangaroo!”, a keen/old reader will yell. Back in 2009, the UK public service broadcasters made an aborted attempt to collectively launch a joint video-on-demand platform.

Yes, we’ve tried and failed to do something like this before, as BBC chair Samir Shah reminded the industry in a recent speech; indeed, it has remained a potent topic of conversation since Project Kangaroo was sensationally blocked as anticompetitive by the Competition Commission (now the Competition and Markets Authority).

As a result, the PSBs have spent the past 15 years on their own streaming and catch-up services, with various degrees of success. As Shah argued, this left them more exposed when the likes of Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ started to roll into the UK with their user-friendly services.

“It feels hip to dunk traditional linear television, but one thing it did so well for decades was to make it simple to find a TV show”

There have been some broadcaster collaborations in recent years. Most recently, there’s Freely, the natural successor to Freeview. This relatively new joint venture by the PSBs delivers live and catch-up television over the internet, without your television needing to be connected to an aerial. It has a clear and easy-to-use interface, and some televisions already come with it built in, with more on their way.

Only, in my view, it doesn’t go far enough. Freely is currently only set up for televisions. It isn’t, at present, available to be used on phones or laptops, where a considerable number of younger people watch their content.

Perhaps broadcasters and streamers need to double down. It feels hip to dunk traditional linear television, but one thing it did so well for decades was to make it simple to find a TV show. You knew where everything was, and the choice of programming was clear and easy to navigate. Finding a show to watch these days feels like wading through every supermarket’s own-brand soup.

• Scott Bryan is a media journalist, presenter and entertainment critic