Video in the age of ultra-connected young people

Young people ultra-connected  and over-equipped   

Médiamétrie has looked into young people's video and television viewing habits on various devices: 4-24 year olds can in fact be broken down into two distinct age groups that are experiencing significant changes, Generation Z (1995-2010) and Generation Alpha (since 2010). Generation Z is extremely technically-oriented, having grown up with digital developments and social media, and is therefore extremely interactive via digital technology. Generation Alpha, the children of millennials, is an ultra-connected generation shaped by immediacy, whose parents and institutions are trying to limit their screen time.  

“These are two very tech-savvy generations that love innovation, who are taking advantage of new media uses before they become more widely available to the entire population. This was the case for catch-up television, SVoD and also the exclusive use of mobile phones: young people, who were initially in the majority when these uses emerged, saw their audience share decline as the rest of the population adopted them. More recently, for example, 1 in 2 young people use a conversational artificial intelligence tool each month (19% for the overall population)i” said Alyssa Normant, Senior Research Officer at Médiamétrie. 

The equipment young people have in their homes reveals their uses. The youngest (between 4 and 14 years old) consume most of their video content on televisions, followed by smartphones, computers and tablets [ii].

Households where young adults live are less likely to have a television: 14% of 20-24 year olds live in a household without a television compared to 9% for all households. And 95% of 15-24 year olds use a smartphone. In fact, young people aged 15 to 24 favour viewing TV and video content on smartphones, followed by television, computers and tablets[iii].

Time-shifted TV and video programmes on all devices 

Young people develop video practices that are specific to them.  

Isabelle Maurice, Director of Studies, Monitoring and Forecasting at Médiamétrie, commented: “Young people have a very specific consumption of television programmes, in several ways: they watch more programmes offline, have specific TV viewing times, in the morning and during school holidays, and finally, they are fans of watching television on the go  and on digital devices.” 

People under 24 devote a significant amount of time to watching TV offline – between 14 and 15%, compared to 9% for the population as a whole. The youngest among them prefer morning viewing: 13% of 4-10 year olds watch TV before 9 a.m. on weekdays and 24% before 11 a.m. on weekends. They mainly watch cartoons. In the evenings, during prime-time, 4-14 year olds often watch family programmes on catch-up television (1/5th of viewing), for example Koh-Lanta or Pékin Express. Finally, the school holidays are a great time for watching TV: daily listening time increases by 25% for 4-14 year olds and by 23% for 15-24 year olds.

15-24 year olds are particularly keen on watching television on the move and on digital devices. More than a quarter of their television use takes place outside the home, compared to 7% for all those aged 4 and over. This is especially the case for major sporting events such as the Olympic Games and football matches. In a more personalised approach to practice, these young people also do more than 1/10th of their TV consumption on digital devices at home – on computers, smartphones or tablets.[iv]

With regard to SVoD, among those under 25, daily use increases with age2. This use has been increasing across all age groups since 2020, with the exception of 15-24 year olds, who are the forerunners and the biggest fans; in November 2024, 70% of 15-24 year olds had used an SVoD service over the last 12 months, a figure that has been stable since 2020. And nearly two thirds of 6-14 year olds have used SVoD, with very strong growth (1 in 2 in 2020)

As with television programmes, more and more young people are watching video-on-demand programmes on computers, smartphones or tablets: 94% of 15-24 year olds use an AVoD service (including BVod) on these devicesv, compared to 80% for the whole population, and 72% an SVoD service [vi] (51% for the whole population) [vii].

This practice is in line with the individualisation of their video uses and their ultra-connectedness to the Internet: 99% of 15-24 year olds connect to the internet every month (88% for all those aged 2 and over). This is 92% for 11-14 year olds. On the other hand, 61% of children under 11 do not use the internet.

Catherine Poullet, Director of Internet Audience Measurement for Médiamétrie//NetRatings, said: “Daily surfing time is very different depending on the age group. Use is much more intense among younger populations: 15-24 year olds spend an average of 4 hours 21 minutes on the Internet every day. Secondary school pupils are not left out, with a daily surfing time of 2 hours 55 minutes. The screen time of these young adolescents between 11 and 14 years old is a social issue, which is illustrated by the weight of parental control applications, such as Google Family Link which is now approaching 2 million unique monthly visitors”. 

Television, platforms, social media: varied content 

The choice of programme genres varies according to age. On TV, 4-10 year olds are naturally the main fans of children's content. Sport is one of the genres popular with all age groups under 25. Drama, panel shows, news and documentaries become increasingly popular as young people get older.  

Netflix, Prime Video and Disney+ are the top 3 SVoD platforms for under-25s. Netflix and Disney+ are preferred by those under 25, in line with the offering these platforms dedicate to them [viii]. On these platforms, 15-24 year olds prefer series. The programmes most watched by 15-24 year olds on Netflix are series such as Outer Banks, Casa de Papel, “The Bridgerton Chronicles”, on Prime Video “The Boys”, “Person of Interest”, on Disney+, we find programmes from television like “Once Upon a Time” or “The Simpsons”.

Genres popular with young people are experiencing strong growth on SVoD platforms: the volume of anime – these Japanese animated series or films, adapted from manga and cartoons, have tripled in 5 years with 3,088 titles available in December 2024. The emergence of the Crunchy Roll platform dedicated to anime in January 2024 contributed significantly to this growth in supply. As regards TV formats, reality TV shows have increased sevenfold in five years and game shows fourfold.

On the internet, we are witnessing massive engagement among young people on social media and messaging services, where videos are the dominant force. Unsurprisingly, young people are the early adopters of social media, which are gradually gaining ground among the rest of the population. This is what we see when observing their audience share: 15% for Facebook, 29% for Instagram, 39% for Snapchat, 50% for Tik Tok and 80% for Be Real.

Internet users are in turn becoming content producers with photo and video editing and retouching applications such as Canva, Capcut, InShot and Picsart: 3.6 million 15-24 year olds – almost 1 in 2 – visit these apps every month, which demonstrates a very sustained growth.  

Young people's video consumption, which is constantly changing, therefore reflects a unique relationship with digital devices and technology, shaped by mobility, immediacy and interactivity. At a time when digital devices are everywhere, and faced with these profound transformations, their relationship with content is shaping the contours of the future media landscape.

Laure Osmanian