It’s no surprise that a majority of Gen Z prefers content creators over traditional entertainment, but how is the Hollywood establishment faring in their attempts to feed the next generation’s media diet? Matt Belloni and The Hollywood Reporter’s Alex Weprin dig in.
So yesterday? Deloitte’s 19th annual digital media trends survey found that 56% of people who identify as Gen Z, and 43% of millennials find social media content more relevant than traditional TV shows and movies. “It's just a giant red flag for Hollywood, because this new generation that's growing up has such a different media diet,” says Belloni. “I just wonder if Hollywood is ever going to figure out this problem; the products that the industry is putting out are just less relevant. It doesn't matter what platform they're on.”
Ad it up? As content creators gradually increase their production value, a new wellspring of advertisers are flocking to YouTubers with their business. “The quality of their content is on par with what you'd find on TV, and you're seeing more and more creators up the quality of their content. Dude Perfect just raised $100 million to expand their media business,” explains Weprin. “There are a lot of creators that are really going up market in terms of the quality of their content. And you are, in fact, seeing advertisers buy into that as well.”
How do you do, fellow kids? With younger viewers flocking creators on platforms like YouTube, Twitch, and TikTok, where does that leave Hollywood? “We're going to see this convergence, where the creator economy and the traditional studio economy meet in the middle and form this kind of new economic reality,” says Weprin. “Agencies like the newly formed WME group, they're all seeking a bigger piece of the creator pie as well. Like they're all trying to cut deals with these big YouTube and TikTok creators. I think that they see creators as a big piece of their future, and they're doing whatever they can to get a piece of it.”