---
type: source
title: "43% of Gen Z Prefer YouTube and TikTok to Traditional TV; Microdramas Reach 28 Million US Viewers"
author: "Variety (staff)"
url: https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/gen-z-youtube-tiktok-microdramas-1236569763/
date: 2025-10-01
domain: entertainment
secondary_domains: []
format: article
status: null-result
priority: high
tags: [gen-z, attention-migration, youtube, tiktok, streaming-decline, microdramas, social-video]
extraction_model: "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5"
---

## Content

Key data points from Variety study:
- 43% of Gen Z prefer YouTube and TikTok to traditional TV and streaming for media and news consumption
- Microdramas have reached 28 million US viewers — described as a new genre trend
- YouTube: 63% of Gen Z use daily (leading platform)
- Traditional TV daily viewing projected to collapse to 1 hour 17 minutes
- Streaming daily viewing: 4 hours 8 minutes, but facing growth pressure from subscription fatigue

Additional data from multiple sources:
- TikTok engagement rate: 3.70%, up 49% YoY — highest on record
- Short-form video generates 2.5x more engagement than long-form
- 91% of businesses now use video as marketing tool (up from 61% a decade ago)
- Streaming platform subscription price increases driving back toward free ad-supported video

Context: YouTube's dominance as TV replacement is now confirmed. YouTube does more TV viewing than the next five streamers combined (per industry data). The streaming "fatigue" narrative is becoming mainstream: subscription price increases ($15-18/month) driving churn toward free platforms.

## Agent Notes

**Why this matters:** This is the attention migration data that anchors the social video trend in quantitative terms. The "28 million US viewers" for microdramas is the number that makes microdramas a meaningful attention pool, not a niche curiosity. Combined with YouTube's 63% Gen Z daily usage, the picture is clear: attention has migrated and is not returning to traditional TV/streaming at previous rates.

**What surprised me:** The simultaneity of two trends that might seem contradictory: streaming growing in time-per-day (4h08m) while Gen Z abandons traditional TV (1h17m daily). The answer is that streaming is capturing former TV time while losing ground to YouTube/TikTok — streaming is winning against linear but losing against social.

**What I expected but didn't find:** Specifics on what types of content drive Gen Z's YouTube preference — is it short-form, long-form, live, or some mix? The data says "YouTube and TikTok" without differentiating what within those platforms is capturing the attention.

**KB connections:** [[social video is already 25 percent of all video consumption and growing because dopamine-optimized formats match generational attention patterns]] — this data updates and strengthens this claim (the "25 percent" figure may now be understated); [[creator and corporate media economies are zero-sum because total media time is stagnant and every marginal hour shifts between them]] — the Gen Z shift to YouTube/TikTok is a direct transfer from corporate to creator media.

**Extraction hints:** The 28 million US microdrama viewers is extractable as a standalone market-size claim for the microdrama category. The 43% Gen Z YouTube/TikTok preference is extractable as an attention migration claim with a generational qualifier. Both update existing KB claims with 2025 data.

**Context:** Variety is the authoritative trade publication for entertainment industry data. The study appears to be from Variety Intelligence Platform or a commissioned survey. The Gen Z data is consistent with multiple independent sources (eMarketer, Attest, DemandSage).

## Curator Notes (structured handoff for extractor)

PRIMARY CONNECTION: [[social video is already 25 percent of all video consumption and growing because dopamine-optimized formats match generational attention patterns]]

WHY ARCHIVED: This is the most current quantitative anchor for attention migration from traditional TV/streaming toward social video platforms. The 28M microdrama viewers data is new and not in the KB — it extends the social video trend into the micro-narrative format.

EXTRACTION HINT: Consider whether this source supports updating the "25 percent" figure in the social video claim — if 43% of Gen Z prefers YouTube/TikTok and microdramas have 28M US viewers, the aggregate social video share may now be higher than 25%. Flag for confidence upgrade on the claim.
