Gen Alpha turns on the TV and heads to YouTube

YouTube eats up more watch time on TV screens than any other platform, and a new survey suggests that the youngsters of Generational Alpha are largely responsible for that phenomenon. A survey of U.K.-based consumers conducted by Ofcom revealed YouTube as the most common destination for kids when they turn on the TV.

Ofcom, a government-approved regulator, gathered viewership data from a cross-generational section of the U.K. population. Within that sample, members of Gen Alpha — who range in age from four to 15 — were most likely to cite YouTube as their platform of choice when watching TV.

20% of the respondents in that age range said YouTube was their first destination after turning on the telly. Netflix ranked second on that axis.

In one sense, this data set confirms preconceived notions about Gen Alpha. Ever since that generation gained cultural consciousness, it has cited YouTube and Netflix as its favorite streaming hubs. Trends like Skibidi Toilet and Italian Brainrot, which have been driven to mainstream recognition through billions of YouTube views, show us that YouTube still has considerable cultural import among today’s youngsters.

The interesting wrinkle here is that YouTube and Netflix are also Gen Z’s favorite platforms. Ofcom found that respondents between the ages of 18 and 34 watch 18 minutes on YouTube on TVs per day; that consumption habit accounts for nearly half of the average family’s TV-based YouTube use.

YouTube has often characterized itself as a Gen Z cultural phenomenon, arguing that brands need to place ads on its videos if they want to reach that cohort. These latest findings give more credence to the idea that YouTube has become universal, with no significant generation gap present. Ofcom found that respondents over the age of 55 have nearly doubled their YouTube consumption year-over-year, and 42% of that viewership comes on TV screen.

“Scheduled TV is increasingly alien to younger viewers, with YouTube the first port of call for many when they pick up the TV remote,” said Ofcom Interim Group Director for Strategy and Research Ed Leighton in a statement. “But we’re also seeing signs that older adults are turning to the platform as part of their daily media diet too.”

So there you have it: The over-55s may not be watching Skibidi remixes, but they’re enjoying YouTube almost as much as their younger counterparts. Maybe advertisers need to go on YouTube to reach Gen Z or Gen Alpha, but the buck doesn’t stop there. Everyone is on YouTube — and traditional broadcast TV hubs need to catch up.