diff --git a/frontend/js/components/getting-started.js b/frontend/js/components/getting-started.js
index bce140e..9d47b5e 100644
--- a/frontend/js/components/getting-started.js
+++ b/frontend/js/components/getting-started.js
@@ -24,7 +24,12 @@ export function computeSteps({ devices = [], content = [], playlists = [] } = {}
   const hasPlaylist = playlists.length > 0;
   // "On screen" is the only step that cannot be faked by creating an object and walking away:
   // some screen has to actually be pointed at something.
-  const isAssigned = devices.some((d) => d.playlist_id || d.default_content_id || d.layout_id);
+  // default_content_id is deliberately NOT counted. No player reads it — grep the whole tree and
+  // it appears only in this checklist, the device route, the settings snapshot and the schema —
+  // so counting it ticked "content assigned" for a screen that goes on showing "waiting for
+  // content". A checklist that lies about the one thing it is there to confirm is worse than no
+  // checklist. The field itself is left alone; that is a separate decision.
+  const isAssigned = devices.some((d) => d.playlist_id || d.layout_id);
 
   const steps = [
     {
diff --git a/server/test/getting-started-checklist.test.js b/server/test/getting-started-checklist.test.js
index 38ad1ff..71d49d8 100644
--- a/server/test/getting-started-checklist.test.js
+++ b/server/test/getting-started-checklist.test.js
@@ -61,13 +61,24 @@ test('THE POINT: it is only finished when something is actually ON a screen', as
   assert.equal(done.nextIndex, -1);
 });
 
-test('any of the three ways of assigning counts', async () => {
-  for (const d of [{ id: 'x', playlist_id: 'p' }, { id: 'x', default_content_id: 'c' }, { id: 'x', layout_id: 'l' }]) {
+test('assigning a playlist or a layout counts', async () => {
+  for (const d of [{ id: 'x', playlist_id: 'p' }, { id: 'x', layout_id: 'l' }]) {
     const s = GS.computeSteps({ devices: [d], content: [{ id: 'c' }], playlists: [{ id: 'p' }] });
     assert.equal(s.complete, true, `${Object.keys(d).join(',')} should count as assigned`);
   }
 });
 
+test('default_content_id does NOT count, because no player reads it', async () => {
+  // This test previously asserted the opposite, and it was wrong. Grep the whole tree and
+  // default_content appears only in this checklist, the device form, the settings snapshot, the
+  // schema and the devices route — never in a socket payload, in assemblePayload, or in any of the
+  // four players. Setting it changes nothing on the screen, so counting it told the operator
+  // "content assigned" while their display went on showing "waiting for content". A checklist that
+  // lies about the one thing it exists to confirm is worse than no checklist.
+  const s = GS.computeSteps({ devices: [{ id: 'x', default_content_id: 'c' }], content: [{ id: 'c' }], playlists: [{ id: 'p' }] });
+  assert.equal(s.complete, false, 'a screen with only default_content is not actually showing anything');
+});
+
 test('steps stay in dependency order — never sent somewhere unusable', async () => {
   // Content before a screen exists is not wrong, but it cannot be PUT anywhere, so the next
   // action must remain the screen.