July 8, 2024 6:00am PT

Gen Alpha Prefers Social Video Over Paid Streaming: 2024 Kids Survey

Photo Illustration: Variety VIP+: Adobe Stock

Note: This article is based on the VIP+ special report “The Race to Replace TV,” available only to subscribers.

Generation Alpha, aka the youngest demographic, is just beginning to define its cultural characteristics, but new data from Precise TV shows kids are widely turning to social video and UGC for entertainment — further chipping away at traditional streaming’s dominance.

In collaboration with Giraffe Insights, Precise TV recently published the 2024 edition of its Precise Advertiser Report — Kids (PARK), which analyzed the video consumption habits of U.S. kids 2-12.

In terms of consumption preferences, YouTube was the top video platform of choice among those surveyed, a majority that increased by 9% between 2023 and 2024.

SVOD was the runner-up here, with 62% of Gen Alphas having recently used streaming platforms in 2024, making for a comfortable lead over other social video platforms, including TikTok and Facebook.

But as Gen Alpha grows up, the gap between SVOD and YouTube is widening, with the difference between the two categories increasing from 14% to 19% in just a year’s time.

This growth isn’t a shock considering YouTube is bigger than ever in terms of usership and, according to findings in Nielsen’s new Media Distributor Gauge, currently attracts greater TV usage than most traditional production companies. SVOD is still popular across all generations, but years of price hikes, content shakeups and bundles upon bundles may be impeding its rate of expansion.

TikTok is also garnering an increasing amount of Gen Alpha’s attention, despite most of it technically not being old enough to have social media. TikTok’s consumption among Gen Alpha grew substantially in 2024 (44%), even surpassing linear TV (39%). But for average daily watch times, the platform is neck-and-neck with YouTube Shorts, which is indicative of a burgeoning rivalry between the two sites.

A sizable portion of Gen Alpha kids still spend multiple hours a day on SVOD platforms, but social video is once again not far behind. YouTube isn’t the only threat to SVOD, either, as 63% of Gen Alpha kids surveyed said they spend two or more hours on livestreaming platform Twitch. SVOD, meanwhile, sees a significant drop in viewership at the two-hour mark.

Gen Alpha obviously still has plenty of growing up to do (the oldest Alphas are turning 14 this year), and so their media consumption habits are subject to change. But as every generation is more online than the last, traditional media’s current fight for young peoples’ attention isn't likely to end anytime soon.

Now dig into the VIP+ subscriber report ...