THE STREAMING TEENAGER

Connor Wise, 16. Student in Larchmont, N.Y.

If Connor Wise were forced to choose between a television and his iPhone, TV would not stand a chance.



Connor, a high school junior from Larchmont, N.Y., said that his phone gave him more flexibility to watch the shows he wanted to watch, when, where and how he wanted to watch them.

“TV is stationary in your house,” he said. “You can’t walk around with it. You have to watch what is on. You can’t search for other shows you find interesting.”

Although Connor watches about four hours of programming a day, he rarely watches live — except for big events like the Super Bowl or the USA Network drama series “Suits,” which he watches with his father.

There are five television sets in the house where he lives with his parents and two sisters, but Connor mostly streams shows to the computer in his bedroom, binge-watching shows on Netflix or Hulu like the long-running medical drama “Grey’s Anatomy” and the sitcom “How I Met Your Mother.”

Only if he does not have a show to binge-watch will he flip on the television and watch with his sisters. He said that his phone was never out of reach and that he was constantly texting, surfing Facebook and playing games.

While Connor would pick his iPhone over a television, he said that the screen was too small to enjoy full episodes. But his younger sister, Charlotte, 10, watches television almost exclusively on her phone.