Gen Z Is Putting Off Work to Finish Binge-Watching TV Shows, Tubi Survey Finds

Is streaming TV shows and movies getting in the way of Gen Z’s jobs? New research by Tubi in collaboration with The Harris Poll suggests it might be.

The survey, which was conducted between Oct. 21 and Nov. 1, 2024 among more than 2,500 adults aged 18 and older that stream video at least one hour per week, found that 84% of employed Gen Z viewers said they watch TV or movies while working and 48% said they have lied to coworkers or bosses about it.

About 53% of respondents said they put off work to finish a show they were binge-watching and 52% said they do not want to return to the office because they will miss streaming during the work day. Meanwhile, 38% of viewers said they stream their favorite TV shows or movies while at their job site.

When it comes to consumer viewing habits, 44% of respondents surveyed reported watching TV shows and movies intentionally with no distractions, while 38% said they use streaming as background noise for tasks, including work. 59% said they were most likely to reach for streaming when they needed a mental break, followed by listening to music (50%) and scrolling social media (38%). 57% stream TV and movies from one to three hours per day, while 38% streamed for three or more hours.

As for content preferences, 82% of Gen Z viewers browse streaming services for older content. 70% want to see more TV shows/films made by independent or smaller creators (up 4% year-over-year), while 72% prefer to watch original content vs. franchises/remakes. 72% also said they wish they had more of a say in the type of content made for streaming services.

On average, consumers surveyed are spending around $129 per month on streaming services and cable. They are juggling nearly seven streaming services, with an average of 4.9 SVOD services and 2.6 FAST services. About 76% said they have or would end a streaming service over a price increase. Others said they would ditch streamers because of irrelevant content (65%), removal of content (54%), tiered memberships (63%) and password sharing crackdowns (45%, up 5% year-over-year).   

Consumers also had a lot to say about password sharing, with 70% saying they would not share their login information with a romantic partner until the relationship becomes serious. Meanwhile, 44% of Gen Z consumers admitted to using an ex’s streaming login even after they broke up. Around 35% of Gen Z and millennials said they have ended relationships over incompatible viewing habits.

The findings come as streaming accounted for a record 43.5% of TV usage in February, compared to a combined share of 44.4% of TV for broadcast (21.2%) and cable (23.2%) during the month.

Despite Tubi increasing its share 17% month-over-month to 2% of total TV watch-time – its largest share since July 2024 – YouTube still reigned supreme with the largest share of TV viewing for the month at 11.6%, a 2.5% increase versus the previous month. Nearly 27% of time spent streaming in February was dedicated to watching YouTube.

Following behind was Netflix at 8.2%, Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ at 4.8% on an aggregated basis, Prime Video at 3.5% and the Roku Channel at 2.1%. Trailing behind Tubi was Peacock with a share of 1.5%, Paramount+ with 1.3%, Max with 1.2% and Pluto TV with 1%.

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