Hub: U.S. Consumers Average 13 Entertainment Sources – WORLD SCREEN

Across television, gaming, social video, music, podcasts and more, the average U.S. household is using 13 different sources of entertainment, according to the latest edition of Hub’s Battle Royale survey, with that number rising to 16 for those under 35.

Meanwhile, homes with kids are using almost 17 different entertainment sources, the Hub research indicates.

In this fragmented market, only half of those sources are considered “must-haves”—respondents rated 6.4 of their sources as “must haves,” and 6.7 as “nice to have.”

The research also reveals the intensively competitive landscape TV faces in retaining its slice of media usage. In general, respondents use six “premium video” sources—such as cable, streaming or virtual MVPDs— etc.) and seven other platforms, including YouTube, TikTok, gaming and music. Younger audiences use seven premium TV sources and nine others. On average, entertainment consumers under 35 use 2.4 gaming sources and 3.6 social or short form video sources.

“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.”