The news: Most consumers split their media consumption across podcasts, gaming, music listening, connected TVs (CTVs), and social media. However, streaming services still reign supreme, per Deloitte’s 2025 Digital Media Trends report.

• Gen Zers spend 1.3 hours per day watching TV shows and movies via streaming services, compared with 1 hour watching user-generated content (UGC), and 0.8 hours using cable and CTVs.
• Millennials spend 1.5 hours streaming, 0.7 hours consuming UGC, and 1.1 hours on social media.

Mobile first: Users overwhelmingly view short-form and long-form video on smartphones and tablets rather than CTVs, a trend that could complicate YouTube’s short-form video push.

• Only 17% of consumers frequently watch long-form videos on their TVs, and just 3% do so with short-form video.
• With 75% of Gen Zers identifying short-form videos as their most-watched type of vertical content, per Toluna, the device that captures their attention could be a major profit driver.

Ad-supported growth: The rise of free ad-supported streaming services and ad-supported tiers on paid platforms may be partly driven by younger users’ viewing habits and budgets.

• More than two-thirds of Gen Zers and millennials subscribe to a free, ad-supported streaming plan.
• Mobile-friendly, ad-driven content could be the sweet spot for capturing users’ attention without triggering subscription fatigue.

Paying up: Consumers' sensitivity to subscription costs could also reshape the entertainment industry: Almost half (47%) of streaming customers think they pay too much, per Deloitte, and 41% believe the content available isn’t worth it.

However, adding short-form video features could boost usage, even if it’s not via CTVs. Seventy-nine percent of Gen Zers would increase their weekly use of a streaming service if it added a short-form video feature, per Toluna.

Our take: Optimizing ad formats, algorithms, and creator tools for both mobile and CTV viewing could be a wasted endeavor in some cases, as what works well on one screen may flop on another.

As audiences split attention across formats and screens, platforms may benefit more by doubling down on mobile-first short videos to encourage viewing, while expanding ad-supported streaming options to retain users.

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