channel surfing

Idioms  

1. Switching from one television station (channel) to another frequently, either to search for an interesting program or to keep track of several programs at once. For example, What did you see on TV last night?—Nothing much; I was just channel surfing. The term transfers the surfer's search for good waves to the viewer's search for programs. This practice became widespread with the use of remote-control devices for changing channels while remaining seated some distance from the television set. [1980s] A 1990s version is Internet surfing, a similar process for searching cyberspace.

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Example Sentences

Bruce ruminates over Flannery O’Connor stories and Terrence Malick’s 1973 crime drama “Badlands,” which he happens upon while channel surfing one night.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 23, 2025

If I see myself in a film I did when I am channel surfing, I remember what I was doing that day.

From Salon • Mar. 15, 2023

Seattle night owls channel surfing this week might catch a familiar face on “Late Night With Seth Meyers.”

From Seattle Times • Oct. 7, 2021

You’re channel surfing; give an episode a few minutes and if you don’t like it, delete it and move on.

From New York Times • Sep. 22, 2020

On an average night, one need engage in only a few minutes of channel surfing during prime-time hours to stumble across images of gangsta culture on television.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander