logo
Updated on Sep 19, 2023
Updates monthly

Tracking Trends in the Media and Entertainment Industry

The share of adults who prefer theaters for movie premieres has held steady
Morning Consult Logo
Share of U.S. adults who said whether they prefer to watch a just-released movie in a theater or via video streaming service. Figures may not add up to 100% due to rounding.

The media industry is constantly evolving due to changing consumer consumption patterns, consolidation and new business practices that become standard. Media leaders need the most up-to-date data on industry trends to best decide how to respond to them. But fresh, reliable figures are hard to come by.

To help media and entertainment leaders stay current on the need-to-know consumer behaviors and sentiment, Morning Consult is tracking the most important media consumption trends through a monthly survey of U.S. adults.

Find a more detailed methodology for this monthly tracker below.

Key Takeaways

  • Podcast listenership is holding fairly steady among U.S. adults. The share of adults who reported listening to a podcast at least once in August was 45%, down 3 percentage points from July but nearly even with the 44% reported in May. However, high-profile podcasts like “Anything Goes With Emma Chamberlain” are no longer exclusive to Spotify and could help engage casual podcast listeners in the coming months. 

  • Time spent playing video games has been relatively flat, but it is likely to increase soon. In August, 63% of adults said they spent time playing video games in the past month, nearly even with rates for June and July (65% each). But this figure will likely jump as summer comes to a close: In 2022, the share who reported spending any time gaming increased by 5 points between August and October. 

  • The share spending $15 or less on video streaming is up. Last month, 31% of adults reported spending this amount on streaming, up from 25% in July. This likely reflects some swapping out of pricier subscriptions with less costly ones. For example, in August Paramount+ launched a limited-time annual deal plan at over 50% off. 

Video Streaming Service Usage

Shares of respondents who said they watched content on a video streaming service at least once in the past month
Morning Consult Logo

Video Streaming Service Spending

Share of U.S. adults who said they paid the following for video streaming service subscriptions in the past month:
Morning Consult Logo

Consumers Who Stream Music

Shares of respondents who said they streamed music at least once in the past month
Morning Consult Logo

Consumers Who Listen to Podcasts

Shares of respondents who said they listened to a podcast at least once in the past month
Morning Consult Logo

Preferred News Medium

Share of U.S. adults who said they used each source for news at least once in the past month
Morning Consult Logo

Trust in News Sources

Share of U.S. adults who said the following offered the most trustworthy news sources:
Morning Consult Logo

Average Time Spent Playing Video Games

Share of U.S. adults who said they spent the following amount of time playing video games in an average week:*
Morning Consult Logo
*This includes app-based games on mobile devices, as well as online or offline games played on a computer or gaming console.

Esports Viewership

Shares of respondents who said they watched an esports event in the past month
Morning Consult Logo

Metaverse Awareness

Shares of respondents who said they had seen, read or heard the following about the metaverse:
Morning Consult Logo
Figures may not add up to 100% due to rounding.

Source of This Data

Methodology

The Morning Consult Media and Entertainment Monthly Trend Tracker relies on Morning Consult’s proprietary survey research capabilities. The interviews are conducted online, and the data is weighted to approximate a representative sample of U.S. adults based on gender, educational attainment, age, race and region. Results from the full survey have a monthly sample size of 2,200 U.S. adults and an unweighted margin of error of +/-2 percentage points.

About Morning Consult

Morning Consult is a global decision intelligence company changing how modern leaders make smarter, faster, better decisions. The company pairs its proprietary high-frequency data with applied artificial intelligence to better inform decisions on what people think and how they will act. Learn more at morningconsult.com.

Kevin Tran
Senior Media & Entertainment Analyst

Kevin Tran is the senior media & entertainment analyst on the Industry Intelligence team, where he conducts research, authors analyst notes and advises leaders in the media & entertainment industry on how to apply insights to make better business decisions. Prior to Morning Consult, Kevin was a media analyst at Variety Intelligence Platform, Variety’s premium subscription service. Kevin graduated from the Haas School of Business undergraduate program at the University of California, Berkeley. @ktran223

For speaking opportunities and booking requests, please email [email protected].