YouTube is their TV, Netflix is their cable, and fan edits are their trailers—young people’s viewing habits have been quietly rewritten. Is the binge era over? Are weekly drops worth the gamble? Why are young consumers suddenly okay with ads again—and what does it mean when their favorite “shows” now live on TikTok? For entertainment brands, the playbook from even two years ago is already out of date.
In YPulse’s 2026 Media Consumption Report, we dive into where young consumers are actually watching video content, how social platforms are stealing TV’s share of attention, why fan edits have become a discovery engine for entertainment, and how Gen Z and Millennials are responding to the rise of ad-supported streaming.
Report length: 22 pages, North America report is based on surveys of 1500 13-39-year-olds in the U.S. and Canada, fielded April 2026. Western Europe report is based on a survey of 2500 13-39-year-olds in the U.K., Italy, Spain, France, and Germany, fielded in April 2026.
