LONDON & NEW YORK—New research on Americans’ media habits in 2021 suggests that consumers are spending less time bingeing on TV and devoting more time to social media 

Attest’s third annual “US Media Consumption” report polling 2,000 working-age Americans on their media habits found that social media is America’s favorite media in terms of the percentage of people who engage with it each day. About 92.6% of Americans spend some portion of their day on social media, followed by streaming TV services (82.8%) and music streaming (81.1%).  

But the report also found that as pandemic restrictions have lifted this year, binge-watching of both live TV and streaming content has seen marked declines. While Netflix still dominates streaming, the percentage of people engaging in five-hour+ bingeing sessions on streaming platforms is down from 25.9% in 2020 to just 12.4% in 2021, the report found. 

More Americans also stopped watching live TV for more than six hours (8.7%) compared to last year (18.8%). Meanwhile, nearly one in five consumers (19%) say they now watch no live TV in 2021, versus 14% in 2020. 

The survey also found a collapse in the consumption of TV news, potentially caused by pandemic fatigue and the conclusion of the Presidential election, with just under a third of Americans (31.8%) regularly tuning into news content in 2021, compared to 46.3% in 2020. 

This escape from reality is borne out by Americans saying comedy (51.1%), drama (49.8%) and crime (42.3%) programs are their favorite types of TV shows, the report found. 

In terms of social media, the Attest survey found that Americans’ favorite social media platform is YouTube, with 87% using the platform at least once during the month, followed by Facebook (81.9%). 

However, consumers are more likely to use Facebook on a daily basis (54.1%) compared to YouTube (45.3%). 

Meanwhile, TikTok saw substantial growth from 2020’s report with just under half of Americans using the platform at least once over a month (48.3%). 

The vast majority of consumers also appear to have missed the Clubhouse craze with 82.9% saying they never use the platform. 

Unsurprisingly, Gen Z (aged 18-25) used social media on a daily basis the most out of all those polled (at 96%), but the boomer generation (aged 55-66) came next (at 87%). 

In tandem with a decline in bingeing on TV content, Americans are listening to more radio this year, with just 10.9% saying they never listen to the radio (compared to 20% in 2020). Additionally, for the first time since this report was launched, more than half of consumers say they listen to podcasts (55.9%), compared to 48.7% in 2020. 

In terms of streaming the report found that Netflix dominates in the streaming wars, with nearly seven in ten Americans having a subscription (69.4%), followed by Amazon Prime (52%) and Disney Plus (36.9%).   

Over two-thirds (67.2%) of consumers say they do not have any paid-for content subscriptions for news media. Of the minority who do subscribe in 2021, digital subscriptions (19.5%) are only just ahead of print (18%). 

The data in the report is from research conducted on the Attest platform. The total sample size for this research was 2,000 nationally representative working-age consumers based in the United States. The survey concluded on 12 August 2021. 

DARIEN, Ill.—We’ve all gotten hooked on a TV show so much that we just can’t stop watching, often going into the wee hours of the morning to finish a season. That’s not just anecdotal, a new study from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) essentially proves it.

In a new survey, 88% of U.S. adults admitted that they have lost sleep because they decided to stay up and watch multiple episodes of a TV or streaming show. Among viewers 18-44 years old, that number jumps to 95%. This occurs even as Americans classify sleep as their second most important priority, behind family.

It’s not always binging either, sports can also cause people to stay up late. Men are most likely to stay up for sports at 75%, but overall 60% of U.S. adults have done so for some game. Other things keeping people up past their normal bedtimes, according to AASM, are reading and playing video games.

AASM found that there were some negative effects to these patterns, besides just a lack of sleep. Nearly a quarter (24%) of respondents felt frustration over losing sleep after a binge session. It is especially prevalent in Generation Z, which can feel frustrated, worried and guilty about their loss of sleep.

“It’s encouraging that Americans rank sleep as one of their highest priorities, but choosing to binge on entertainment at night instead of sleeping has serious ramifications,” said Dr. Kelly A. Carden, AASM president. “Sleep is essential to health, well-being and safety, and chronic insufficient sleep can lead to an increased risk of health problems, mood disorders and motor vehicle accidents.”

AASM provides more detail, as well as some beneficial sleeping habits, on its website.

NEW YORK—If you recently powered through the recent season of Netflix’s “House of Cards” you can count yourself among the popular majority of Americans who have taken up binge watching. According to Deloitte Consulting’s “Digital Democracy Survey,” 70 percent of U.S. consumers watch an average of five episodes at a time of television; a reported 31 percent binge on a weekly basis. As a result, Deloitte says America has become a “marathon nation.”

The survey indicates that 46 percent of Americans now subscribe to video streaming services, and more than half of all consumers watch movies and TV shows through streaming at least once a month; three-quarters of Millennials reportedly do so. Additionally, Millennials aged 26-32 with streaming services have on average three subscriptions, while those 14-25 put more value and time into their streaming video subscriptions than live, pay-TV.

It’s not just the Millennials, however, that are binging shows on Netflix, Hulu, or the like. Baby boomers (50-68) also binge, with 35 percent doing so once a week at an average of four episodes per sitting, according to Deloitte. Regardless of age, 61 percent of streaming subscribers ranked their streaming service in their top three of most valued subscriptions; that is triple of what it was in 2012 (17 percent).

As far as what people are binging, given the choice between TV drama, TV comedy, reality series or DIY programs, 53 percent of respondents saying they binge TV dramas.

“The proliferation of online content shows no signs of slowing down and the consumer appetite to consume content is equally voracious,” said Gerald Belson, vice chairman and U.S. media and entertainment sector leader for Deloitte. “The survey data indicates that consumers are more willing than ever to invest in services to watch whenever, wherever and on whatever device they choose.”

Additional findings in the survey include that more purchasing decisions are being influence by non-traditional advertising sources; social media sites surpassing TV as Millennials go to news source; and the fact that 90 percent of consumers are multitasking while watching TV.

This is the 10th year that Deloitte has conducted the “Digital Democracy Survey.” The survey polled 2,205 U.S. consumers. To see the full results, click here.