In today’s media landscape, the competition for viewers' attention has never been more intense. Traditional TV now contends with a growing array of alternatives, including gaming, social media, music streaming, podcasts, and more. Hub’s semi-annual "Battle Royale" survey—now in its sixth wave—offers key insights into this crowded ecosystem, highlighting the platforms viewers engage with most and the ones they can’t live without.
According to the 2024 survey, the average household now uses 13 different sources of entertainment—the highest number recorded since the study began three years ago. Younger viewers are especially active, with those under 35 engaging with 16 different sources, while households with children average nearly 17. This marks a significant expansion in the variety of platforms competing for consumers' time and attention.
Despite the wide array of available options, consumers only categorize about half of these sources as indispensable. On average, respondents consider 6.4 of their entertainment sources to be “must haves,” while 6.7 fall into the “nice to have” category. This 50/50 split has remained remarkably consistent across all six waves of the survey since early 2022. Notably, young people and families—who engage with the most sources—maintain the same ratio, underscoring a widespread pattern in how entertainment priorities are determined.
Once the cornerstone of home entertainment, TV is facing stiff competition from emerging content formats, particularly among younger demographics. Survey respondents reported using six “premium video” sources (such as cable, streaming services, or virtual MVPDs) and seven non-video platforms, including social media video, gaming, and music streaming services.
For those under 35, the dominance of TV as the primary source of entertainment has diminished. They rely on only seven premium video platforms but engage with nine sources outside of traditional video. This shift is largely driven by increased use of gaming and social media. On average, younger consumers use 2.4 gaming platforms compared to just one for those over 35. Similarly, they access 3.6 social or short-form video sources, while older viewers use only 2.2.
“These findings underscore how competitive the entertainment landscape has become,” said Jon Giegengack, Principal and Founder at Hub and one of the study authors. “In particular, video games, YouTube and TikTok are rapidly gaining share of mind among young consumers, who have an entirely different idea of what ‘entertainment’ means and are forming habits unlikely to change as they grow older,” he concluded.