The annual Teens and Screens report from UCLA’s Center for Scholars & Storytellers, released this week, is a benchmark for entertainment teams. The survey of more than 1,500 people aged 10-24 put YouTube at the top of media that can tell a story, and kept moviegoing as the preferred weekend outing for a third consecutive year.
Moviegoing holds its weekend edge
Going to see a new movie in theaters again ranked above playing a new video game, attending a live music show, streaming a film on a personal device, bingeing a new show, and attending a live sporting event. That matters as the exhibition business tracks toward its biggest year at the box office since the pandemic. Live-action preference also rose 7.4 percentage points over animated.
Fame, freshness and what feels dated
The study complicates the assumption that young audiences mostly want influencer-led casting. New actors edged known actors, 39.8 percent to 38.2 percent, while only 16.8 percent said they would cast an influencer. The preference shifts by age: 10-13-year-olds favored known actors, while 19-24-year-olds leaned toward new faces.
When a show or movie feels old, slang is the first tell. Respondents flagged it at 43.4 percent, ahead of fashion or hairstyle, old technology, visual effects, pop culture references, music, and social-media references.
AI sentiment turns darker with age
Asked how they feel when a story features AI, 28.2 percent said fascinated and 25.6 percent said excited, but 22 percent said doomed and 10.1 percent said scared. The mood moves with age: younger teens lean toward excitement, while the 19-24 group shifts toward doom. Men were more positive on AI than women, at 34.6 percent versus 23.6 percent.
What this means for slates and marketing
Young viewers also said they want hopeful, uplifting and relatable stories: people beating the odds, friendships and social groups, and lives like theirs. Superhero stories and party-based stories involving drinking and drugs landed at the bottom. The findings point to concrete checks:
- Platform priorities: 72.9 percent named YouTube as a medium that can tell a story, just ahead of TV shows and movies.
- Casting logic: Do not default to influencers; age-specific targeting matters.
- Representation: 55 percent want more neurodivergent characters, though only 22.7 percent say current portrayals ring true to real life.
“The gatekeepers have changed and young people themselves are deciding what they want to watch and what they want to see more of in the content they choose,” said Yalda T. Uhls, founder and CEO of the Center for Scholars & Storytellers.
The study was supported by Roblox, YouTube, Hopelab, the Nielsen Foundation and Warner Bros. Discovery, and accompanied the sixth annual Teens and Screens Summit at UCLA on Oct. 22.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
