When it comes to TV viewing, marketers need to understand that Gen Z and Millenials are the captive audiences. Don’t believe it? In 2022, these two generations are between the ages of 10 and 41.
That’s the entire child market, the teenagers, the young adults, and the young and middle-aged income earners. And if you aren’t interested in reaching them, you’re selling nappies or retirement cruises.
Gen Z, born between 1997 and 2012, and the notorious millennials, born between 1980 and 1996, are the largest consumers of media in the history of humankind. Millennials grew up with television, DVDs, mobile phones, and personal computers and Gen Z, well, they grew up right in the middle of the digital age with a tablet on their lap and the world at their fingertips.
The TV watching statistics of these two groups should be of great interest to any business owner, marketer and advertiser. After all, they follow the trends and set them too—and they spend a lot of their own (or their parent’s) money on goods and services.
You might be getting bored in true Millenial and Gen Z fashion, so let’s not waste another minute and get straight into the truth about Millenial and Gen Z TV viewing habits!
The TV Viewing Habits Of Gen Z
The younger of the two groups, Gen Z consumes a great deal of their content on social media. In terms of CTV viewing habits, YouTube is the firm favorite. They also consume plenty of video-on-demand, and their favorite device tends to be their mobile phone—just about all of them have one.
Social Media Video
Teenagers spend most of their TV watching on YouTube. The YouTube content they consume is mostly user-generated and themed. Influencers making candid and expressive videos dominate this segment, and Gen Z trusts these content creators more than formal, structured, and scripted shows.
A considerable segment is walk-through video game shows, situational comedy, and content commentary. Gen Z’s trust in these creators makes product placement and sponsorship valuable for brands.
However, when creating video ad content, advertisers need to be careful not to come across with hard sell or persuasive selling points. Gen Z is sharp and fickle, and they’ll sniff out contrived advertising in a heartbeat.
Gen Z requires a connection to a brand that isn’t forced, which feels like it’s their choice. As a result, advertisers need to be subtle and consistent to win their affection, which isn’t always easy.
TikTok is another Gen Z favorite, and advertisers looking to corner this market should focus a lot of attention here. But, again, individual influencers who are cool and trusted will have the most significant impact, so look to sponsored videos and product placement.
Streaming TV Habits
Gen Z was born with the internet and is the most prominent content streaming generation. They stream on their smartphones and are fans of all of the streaming services. Netflix is extremely popular amongst this generation, but they are big fans of all of them.
It’s estimated that most Gen Z watch at least 3 hours of streaming content per day. This is, of course, a golden opportunity for advertisers to gain traction with this notoriously fickle group. Many businesses can benefit from video streaming analytics from companies such as NPAW, by providing data that can lead to decisions to progress and improve services and user experience. This can influence the approach of content delivery, monetization and personalization, which can all result in an improved video streaming strategy.
Marketers must be savvy here and remember to be relatable if they’re working with streaming advertising companies. Gen Z trusts you if you like the same things they do, and they also trust people their age much more than any other group.
The TV Viewing Habits Of Millennials
Unlike Gen Z, Millennials tend to stream more TV on services like Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Disney+ than YouTube, although their YouTube presence is still significant.
Social Media Video
Millennials also spend loads of time watching online video content. Where they differ slightly is the type of content they consume on YouTube.
While still interested in influencer and user content, Millennials tend to choose content based on their interests or learn how to do new things. They also enjoy podcasts, which are becoming increasingly popular across all adult generations.
Streaming News
Unlike Gen Z, Millennials tend to consume quite a bit of news, and current events content online. So streaming news shows and news-based podcasts are the places marketers can find them.
Similar to Gen Z, and sometimes even more so, Millennials are exceptionally fickle and principled regarding marketing content.
They don’t believe in hype and naturally distrust big corporates and slick sales talk. They’re also politicized and have a highly-defined moral code through which they view the world and their content.
Streaming TV Habits
Millennials are the “TV series generation.” While also into movies, they consume the most series on streaming platforms than any other generation.
Netflix tops the list with Amazon Prime and the rest close behind. They tend to binge-watch too and are highly annoyed by any interruption or gimmicky adverts getting in the way of their viewing.
Advertisers should tread lightly and be subtle yet engaging in their product placement and brand advertising. Get them to trust your motives, trust you, and develop a relationship with them over time.
These two young generations should be the primary focus of all marketers, and you need to find them where they are—streaming video content, TV shows, and movies!
Amanda Dudley is a lecturer and writer with a Ph.D. in History from Stanford University. After earning her doctorate in 2001, she decided to pursue a fulfilling career in the educational sector. So far, she has made giant strides by working as an essay writer for EssayUSA, where she delivers high-quality academic papers to students who need them.