Gen Z, which makes up the demographic of ages 13 - 22, is abandoning old media altogether including TV, instead opting for digital content viewing in phones, tablets and laptops. This shift has led content producers to go where Gen Z lives — Google’s YouTube.
YouTube is a favorite destination for youngsters to 'binge watch' content. The average member of Gen Z spends about 3.4 hours online watching videos. YouTube can stretch viewership as it not only suggests other videos for members to watch, but also offers them a place to comment on what they’ve watched and interact with the creators without leaving the platform. There is a direct interaction between the creators and their audience.
YouTube has hence become a go-to platform for a number of companies to launch their content. For example, in 2015 Jack Davis along with horror master Eli Roth founded Crypt TV and have developed a slate of monster-centric IP that they distribute on YouTube and Facebook (FB) in the form of a short digital film and television series. Their YouTube channel has more than 2.2 million subscribers now. Horror master Jason Blum, CEO and Founder of Blumhouse, invested $6.2 million in Crypt TV’s digital network last year.
Other examples include Brat, a YouTube channel with a number of scripted video series featuring Gen Z actors, whose feature length film “Chicken Girls: The Movie” currently has more than 18 million views on YouTube.
Other advantages of Gen Z’s prolonged engagement with YouTube include the reappearance of more ad revenue creators. That way, YouTube doesn’t have to charge viewers for watching its content.