Hollywood News Now: How Gen Alpha Is Changing the Entertainment Industry

Published: November 13, 2024

Photo from Annie Spratt via Unsplash How Gen Alpha Is Changing the Entertainment Industry

By Movieguide® Contributor

Gen Alpha — kids born between 2010 and 2024 — get their entertainment fix almost exclusively on YouTube, and that's changing how the entertainment industry works.

Rachel Accurso, better known as Ms. Rachel, launched her YouTube channel to fill an educational gap for her son who had issues with speech development. Her channel took off and now boasts 12.2 million subscribers. And there are many other creators just like her whose content draws young viewers away from linear TV and to YouTube.

"Kids are watching YouTube more than they participate in literally any other activity," Chris Williams, founder and CEO of Pocket.watch, told The Wrap. "It's pretty massive."

In September, streaming dominated how Americans watched TV at 41%. YouTube outperformed all other streaming platforms, boasting 10.6% of all streaming, followed by Netflix at 7.9%, Nielsen reported.

And YouTube rules among young people. "According to a study by Precise TV and Giraffe Insights, 81% of children have recently watched YouTube, exceeding other entertainment sources like video on demand, video games, broadcast TV and TikTok," The Wrap said.

Shows such as BLUEY and PAW PATROL now have a live 24/7 viewing option on YouTube in addition to their regular streaming and linear TV platforms.

"We spoke to several heads of different linear networks who, about five years ago, they would tell us, 'Absolutely not, we're not going to put full episodes of our shows on YouTube. It's monopolizing our viewership.' Now? Everyone does that. That is a norm. So it's this huge evolution of the industry," reporter Kayla Cobb told KCRW.

Kevin Mayer, who previously ran Disney's streaming business, opened up about how most major entertainment companies view YouTube and why that mindset might not work anymore.

"At the end of the day, Disney is a storytelling machine," he said in June. "We used short-form video on YouTube as a promotional device for our content. But I don't think that we at Disney, nor have any other traditional media companies, leaned into YouTube as an original storytelling device the way they probably should have."

As more young people turn to YouTube for entertainment, parents must be aware that platforms like YouTube aren't regulated in the same way linear TV is, meaning that harmful content could suddenly pop up on your child's screen.

"…unlike linear kids programming, which has standards dictated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the YouTube algorithm can quickly steer viewers to content that's questionable or even dangerous," The Wrap said.

"You can very easily go from watching a train video to watching trains crashing and blowing up," an insider said.