How Gen Z & Millennial Viewers are Reshaping Entertainment Media

As the marketplace for online shows and movies gets more and more crowded, reaching young viewers increasingly feels like swimming upstream. These are the insights you need to maximize the share of Gen Z & Millennial eyeballs on your content, platforms, or advertisements.

TODAY’S young consumers and households have high expectations for their show and movie providers. And it’s not because they’re entitled or picky – they’ve just happened to grow up in an extraordinary period of innovation, both in terms of how people access media and the diversity of high-quality content available.

From 1990 to 2010, when Gen Z viewers were just children, the world saw a revolution in entertainment media technology. Digital streaming to personal devices displaced the cable box for many households, and these kids were free to watch whatever they wanted, wherever they wanted. This unprecedented access to content continues to influence their consumer attitudes and behaviors today.

And direct-to-consumer media content allowed for the growth of media giants who don’t have to cater to all of America with their prime-time content. Today’s young consumers are floating down an endless stream of great TV tailored to their specific interests. They’ve matured in the age of “peak TV,” and they don’t expect to crest it any time soon.

Gen Z and Millennials grew up with streaming services

These trends impact not only media providers, but also the brands who historically have advertised through them. If young viewers expect more control over their higher-quality media content, it stands to reason that they will be more sensitive towards advertising. Advertisers need to adapt to capture and keep viewer attention, both through rethinking product-content integrations and optimizing the advertisement experience.

To help Collage Group members navigate this new media landscape, in July 2019 we conducted a nationally representative survey of 3085 respondents, oversampling Gen Z and Millennial respondents for precision within these segments. With our members’ input, we designed a survey and conjoint analysis testing key hypotheses on how Millennial and Gen Z consumers compare to older generations, and one another, when it comes to shows and movies.

Take a sample of the research.

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