The report, titled “TV Search and Discovery in the AI Era,” found that 66% of respondents reported increased chatbot use over the past 12 to 18 months, rising to 80% among Gen Alpha respondents ages 13 and 14. More than half of Gen Alpha users said they use chatbots daily.
The findings indicated that 49% of Gen Alpha respondents identified AI chatbots as the best source for TV and movie recommendations, ahead of streaming and cable interfaces at 41% and traditional search engines at 11%.
Across all age groups, 57% said chatbot tools could become or already are their preferred method for finding information on what to watch.
Respondents reported stronger performance from chatbots for complex queries, follow-up questions and direct answers, but traditional search engines continued to lead in perceived trustworthiness and accuracy. Fifty percent of respondents rated traditional search as more trustworthy compared with 27% for chatbots, while 46% rated traditional search higher for accuracy versus 33% for AI tools.
“People are rapidly embracing AI as a new way to search, discover and decide what to watch, especially Gen Alpha audiences, who already expect easy-to-use, conversational interfaces,”
said Tyler Bell of Gracenote. “But adoption alone is not the story: trust is. The winning platforms will be those that can deliver viewing experiences people can actually rely on — grounded in vetted, timely and high-quality data.”
The report also found that skepticism remains, with three in four respondents saying they verify chatbot-generated responses, often by cross-checking with traditional search.
While 92% of respondents rated internet search accuracy for entertainment as good or excellent, 85% said the same for AI, with the gap narrowing among Gen Alpha users.
Gracenote said the findings reflect increasing pressure on media companies and platform providers to improve content discovery as viewing options expand across services. The company said the effectiveness of AI-driven interfaces will depend on the quality and reliability of underlying data.
The report was based on a survey of 4,003 U.S. chatbot users conducted between Jan. 23 and Feb. 4, 2026, along with additional industry data and prior research.
Source: newscaststudio.com