Tracking Trends in the Media and Entertainment Industry
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 tracker below.
Key Takeaways
Podcast listenership is up year over year. In November, 46% of adults said they listened to a podcast in the past month, up 5 percentage points from last November. This makes sense, as several prominent podcasts such as Emma Chamberlain’s “Anything Goes” and Dax Shepard’s “Armchair Expert” became widely accessible in 2023 after previously being exclusive to Spotify. Keep an eye out for Joe Rogan’s decision in 2024 on whether to renew his exclusive Spotify deal — his exit could be a boon for Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music or a dark-horse platform.
More consumers are turning to social media for news. Last month, 73% of adults used social media for news at least once, up 4 points from October and 7 points year over year. While misinformation surrounding the Israel-Hamas war is still an issue, this uptick could in part reflect a growing shift among some consumers toward using private groups on messaging platforms like WhatsApp to share and discuss news with individuals they trust.
Monthly reach of video streaming services remained flat, hinting at a greater need for bundles. About 3 in 4 adults (74%) said they used a video streaming service, even with both the previous month and November 2022. This should be expected given most major video streaming services implemented some type of price hike in 2023, despite the greater availability of bundle deals like the Peacock-Instacart bundle. To move the needle on streaming household penetration in the United States, more streaming combinations that minimize the need to switch between various platforms — such as the HBO Max/Discovery+ merger — will be necessary.
Video Streaming Service Usage
Video Streaming Service Spending
Consumers Who Stream Music
Consumers Who Listen to Podcasts
Preferred News Medium
Trust in News Sources
Average Time Spent Playing Video Games
Esports Viewership
Metaverse Awareness
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 previously worked at Morning Consult as the senior media & entertainment analyst.