TV’s biggest adversary—and ally—is social media

The fragmented entertainment industry is only shattering further as social media creators and platforms continue to vie for consumer attention—but piecing those shards together could create a fuller picture.

Traditional TV and movies are getting more expensive to make. Consumers are getting tired of spending more money on cable and streaming services. Meanwhile, social media offers up free entertainment alternatives, and young people in particular feel stronger connections to creators than traditional celebrities, according to Deloitte’s latest Digital Media Trends report. To combat this, Deloitte recommends studios use social media as both the “start and end” of their marketing strategies.

The average consumer dedicates six hours a day to entertainment, Deloitte found, but as their options for entertainment sources diversify, studios, streamers, social media, and advertisers are all competing for a slice of that time.

Run the play: Streaming and traditional live TV have two big things going for them: news and sports. Of consumers still paying for cable packages, 43% said their main reason for ponying up for more expensive entertainment offerings ($125/month, on average, compared to an average cost of $69/month for four streamers) was to watch news, and 41% said it was to watch live sporting events, Deloitte found.

However, Gen Z audiences aren’t as tied to TV for their sports programming, with a third of Gen Z respondents saying “they don’t subscribe to an SVOD service to watch sports because they watch the clips and highlights on social media.”

Expense account: Even as streaming is generally less expensive than cable, streaming audiences are increasingly fed up with rising prices in comparison to the quality of programming. Four in 10 consumers “say the content available on SVOD isn’t worth the price,” Deloitte found, which is a five-percentage-point increase from a year ago.

Streamers have regularly hiked prices, and the cost to consumers continues to go up, moving from an average of $61/month for four streaming services a year ago to $69/month, according to Deloitte’s data, a 13% increase. Gen Z and millennial streamers, who subscribe to an average of five streamers, have seen a 20% price increase as a result. It’s all led to high churn rates, especially among the younger set, with half of Gen Z and millennials reporting having canceled at least one SVOD service in the last six months.

Social media for all: Not only are younger users drawn to social media for their favorite creators, Deloitte concluded that social media’s big advantage is its ability to deliver its users “algorithmically optimized” entertainment, often subsidized by major ad spending and powered by AI.

Digital media advertising is growing nearly 80% faster than other media, according to a 2024 report from the Interactive Advertising Bureau, and Deloitte says it’s a space where advertisers can target more specific audiences and get “clear results.” Meanwhile, platforms like YouTube and Meta are continually adding and refining AI products for creators and users.

Team players: There are still some existing and potential crossover opportunities between social and traditional TV, Deloitte found. Some creators have, after building social media followings, moved into more traditional media, like TV, though audiences have had mixed responses—just 29% of consumers said they’d watch TV programming that starred their favorite creators, while 30% said “creators lose the authenticity they had on social media when they’re featured on TV shows.”