Commentary
Gen Zers: How Much TV Will They Watch -- Along With Other Digital Platforms?
- by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, June 3, 2022
A Horowitz Research October survey of Generation Z media types -- 18- to-24-year-olds -- shows that 45% still watch live TV regularly. This could give hope to those who believe linear TV still has some long-term value.
Although the research does not provide specific linear TV details, it does point to the fact that they can watch as much user-generated content as TV content. Can we then assume this could be from the likes of MTV, The CW, or now Warner Bros. Discovery's Adult Swim TV shows?
It also shows that 78% are streaming TV content regularly. For sure, the smartphone remains Gen Z's device of choice -- 98% have ownership there, with the bulk of their consumption around social media, followed by music content.
Horowitz Research says there are around 67 million Gen Z-ers -- those between the ages of 18 and 24 -- in the U.S. Ninety-two percent of them own a TV set, and 76% own a gaming console.
advertisement
advertisement
So any astute marketer who wants to connect with these young consumers to gain any sort of upward trend for the monetization of their linear TV products will need a strong social-media marketing strategy to drive home that point.
Some would also point to an advertising-connected video-game strategy as well. Advertising sponsorships around gaming efforts are a nascent business that is attempting to gain traction.
So we can see why media business analysts give a thumbs up to Netflix’s move to dabble in video-game content -- to angle for the next generation of video consumers.
Some still believe bigger deals are possible. Richard Greenfield, media analyst at LightShed Partners, mulls the prospect of Walt Disney looking to buy gaming platform Roblox one day. Or even a Netflix.
Perhaps the positive takeaway from all this is that young media consumers continue to seek choice in terms of content, devices, and platforms.
Still, don’t expect any near-term uptick -- perhaps just a slower rate of decline.
In October 2021, Gen Zers self-reported they watched 4.1 hours of TV content a day – lower than the 4.7 hours a day logged in November 2020.
There is no time to waste.
Wayne Friedman is West Coast Editor of MediaPost. You can reach Wayne at wayne@mediapost.com.
Wayne, the problem with interpreting this kind of research is that a 22-year -old respondent probably means about one or two hours a day when he/she claims to watch TV "regularly" while a 70-year-old probably means about seven to eight hours a day. The only way to get at the truth is to ask repondents about a long list of shows individually---but this is beyond the scope of most online studies and would result in very low cooperation rates if attempted.
Any 'linear TV" programmer who seriously targets millennials is likely doomed to attain very small audiences because young adults simply don't devote as much time to TV from all sources than older ones. The younger folks have too much else on their agendas. Worse, even if you come up with a show that does pull in a fair amount of millennials, they are the first to move on to newer fads when your show becomes repetitive so you have a constantly leaking audience bucket to fill---it is usually a losing battle.