How Gen Z streams TV content around the world?

Growing up with phones, smart TVs and a buffet of entertainment services to choose from, Gen Zers are a streaming-first generation. And as the entertainment industry tries to decode the fickle cohort, new data from Morning Consult indicates that, despite hundreds of millions of dollars in recent investments in international markets, there is plenty of work still to be done for the industry to expand its young customer bases outside of the United States.

Gen Z adults in each country were asked how many streaming services they subscribe to. More than 9 in 10 American Gen Zers (96%) said they subscribe to at least one streaming service, making them more likely to do so than Gen Zers in China, India and Mexico. Chinese Gen Zers were the most likely to say they do not subscribe to any streaming services, at 44%. Roughly 2 in 5 American Gen Zers (39%) said they subscribe to three or four services, the most popular option for US respondents and slightly higher than the 32% of US adults overall who said they subscribe to three or four services. One or two services, meanwhile, was the most popular option for Gen Zers in India and Mexico.

More than half of Chinese Gen Zers (54%) and 3 in 5 Indian Gen Zers said they primarily view streaming content via a mobile phone, shares that were roughly in line with overall respondents from those countries. Meanwhile, at 49%, Gen Zers in Mexico were 17 percentage points more likely to watch via phone than adults overall in the country. In the United States, a TV or smart TV was the primary viewing method of the generation, though a mobile phone was second-most popular at 36%.

“The data indicates there is still lots of room to grow in the Mexican and Chinese markets for Gen Zers, especially compared to Gen Zers’ streaming habits in the United States and India. There is no guarantee investment will translate to success, as evidenced by Netflix recent frustrations to make significant inroads in India, where the entertainment behemoth’s content has been received as a mixed bag, according to analysts. The opportunity, however, remains enormous, especially among consumers already attached to their phones,”  the report concluded.

Surveys were conducted in March 3-8, 2022, among a representative sample of 217-352 members of Generation Z in China, India, Mexico and the United States, with an unweighted margin of error of plus or minus six percentage points.