Who are the “Generation Stream”, and how do they consume SVOD content?

In a 2018 survey, Deloitte already surfaced the emergence of the “MilleXZials”: consumers 15 to 51 in generations Z, X and Y (millennials) with similar consumption habits (Deloitte reference).

Now Hulu partnered with Culture Co-op and released new insights about the “Generation Stream”, defined by the 90% of Americans between 13 and 54 years old that are loyal users of SVOD platforms.

91% of this “Generation” would give up their favorite social media, food, fashion item, and music streaming service only not to lose their video streaming service. They prefer streaming since this gives them more control of their viewing experience, has more available content, all is ad-free, and can be watched from different devices. Also, SVOD lets them binge-watch TV Series and find more niche content.

Samsung, the world’s #1 TV manufacturer by market share, announced in june that over 50% of consumption on their smart TVs in the US is now streaming. In other words, Streaming is now the standard TV watching experience in the US.

The Hulu report explains: “Generation Stream is more than just a demographic, psychographic, or audience segment—it represents a multi-generational movement that is entirely reinventing how, what, where, and when we watch.”, so their consuming behaviors are very different. Hulu mapped the 4 most-common streaming experiences:

1. Therapeutic Streaming: It’s all about self-care and comfort
It's an experience to meditate, reflect, and be with yourself. This group is more likely to consider themselves as traditional, introverted, and homebodies. They enjoy watching series or movies that they have already watched as a reminder of their childhood.

2. Classic Streaming: The “old fashioned way”
Classic's stream daily with family or friends. People of this group are more likely to describe themselves as Social and Recommenders. They have the most-traditional consuming experience since it’s very similar to the linear TV one and tend to be married and have a higher acquisition power.

3. Curated Streaming: Focused on quality content and niches
This group is centered on intelligent, niche, and global quality content. Curators are more diverse and gender-balanced than the other groups. They are young people that love to have cultural conversations and be connected with the rest of the world, who define themselves as Pop-Culture and digitally influenced.

4. Indulgent Streaming: the biggest bineging experience
For these people, it’s all about consumption; they admit that they are bingeing addicts and don’t have any problem spending all their weekend watching their latest favorite series or movies.
This group tends to live alone, are older, and define themselves as Intellectual and Tech-savvy.