• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, 9 hours ago

Multitasking is taking on a new behavior iteration for some in this modern media world.

When we imagine what multitasking has been like, we may be thinking of watching a big TV screen (or laptop) when holding phones and scrolling through social media, or texts, or emails.

But digging deeper, multitasking is taking on a different look -- especially for young consumers -- that is watching two video screens at the same time, watching different types of video content. YouTube being on one of those screens.

According to new analysis from Precisify, young consumers -- millennials and Gen Zers -- are now more likely to be found watching YouTube while also watching TV/CTV content.

Are they watching on two big TV screens? Possibly. But more likely is that they are watching TV-like content -- not exactly long-form video (YouTube Shorts, for instance) on a phone and perhaps a connected TV (CTV) show or content on a laptop.

This could be YouTube on one screen and Netflix, Peacock or ABC on the others.

Precisify believes this continues to evolve, with Gen Z and millennials now “radical multitaskers” which could be a difficult situation for media planners and buyers.

The bottom line is that, according to analysis, they are effectively creating more media hours in their day by using two screens at the same time. This seems unheard of in a world where it is presumed that media usage has its limits.

At this point, the rising usage of the word “attention" comes into focus (so to speak). That word has been of growing importance to brand messaging, and of course to program content.

Specifically, YouTube is the center of discussion here -- given its scale and reach and more importantly where 43% of Gen Z-ers and 50% millennials report second-screening of YouTube will watch television.

Creator content has been a major area of growth, but is now less fragmented.

Sixty-five percent of millennials turn to YouTube for creator content, compared to 37% to TikTok and 32% on Facebook.

Gen Z is more consistent -- YouTube (66%)), TikTok (57%) and Instagram (48%).

But overall, YouTube is one of the biggest in terms of scale. This comes as increasingly more watching of YouTube content is on a big TV screen.

Does that mean more attention for brands -- even as the eyes of two key and growing audience groups shift back and forth to another screen?