YouTube has surpassed Netflix as the preferred platform to watch videos among teenagers, according to the survey conducted by Piper Jaffray.
YouTube Reigns Supreme Among Gen Z Viewers
The results of the firm's fall 2019 survey released on Tuesday, Oct. 8, revealed that 37 percent of the respondents sided with the Google-owned site. Meanwhile, 35 percent still would rather binge watch shows and movies on Netflix.
This is the first time that YouTube became the top video streaming platform among teens based on the findings of the semi-annual survey. Last spring, when the firm asked about their streaming habits, 37 percent of teens preferred Netflix while only 32 percent used YouTube for their daily video consumption.
Piper Jaffray attributed the popularity of YouTube over Netflix to the site's more diverse content library. YouTube offers a "wide array of teen-oriented" options such as music videos, how-to videos, social media influencer videos, and video game streaming.
Meanwhile, the usage rate of Hulu among teens remained at 7 percent. Similarly, 3 percent of respondents chose Amazon.
Cable TV continues to decline in popularity among young viewers. According to the recent survey, only 12 percent of teens spend their daily video time watching programs on cable TV. For comparison, in 2016, 26 percent said they still tune in to cable TV.
Netflix Faces More Competition
Netflix has been experiencing a rough year due to the emergence of new competitors such as Apple TV+ and Disney+. In the last three months, Netflix shares dropped more than 27 percent. Its second quarter earnings report also revealed that the streaming company also did not meet its expected international paid subscriber additions.
However, Piper Jaffray does not expect Netflix to lose popularity among teens despite the arrival of new streaming services.
"As teens see their households continue to migrate away from traditional TV services, we expect a growing transition of consumer content spend towards online video services," wrote the analysts in the report (via Business Insider). "Looking into 2020 and beyond, despite increasing competition from Disney and Apple, we are optimistic regarding ongoing international sub growth and price increases."
The fall 2019 survey received response from thousands of teens. The average age of all respondents is 15.8 years old.
