Photo Credit: Attest
A new study finds that Americans spend on average more time watching creator-based content on YouTube than live television.
A new survey of the media consumption habits of Americans found that 90% access YouTube on a typical weekday, compared to 79% for streaming services and 73% for live TV. They also usually spend more time with streaming services (an hour and 49 minutes on average) compared to YouTube (an hour and 46 minutes) and live television (an hour and 31 minutes), according to data from Attest.
Attest’s 2026 Attention Economy Report is based on surveys of 1,000 UK and 1,000 US adults alongside five years of tracking data. It found that creator content is now more popular than streaming or traditional broadcast TV.
Americans spend an average of 3 hours and 54 minutes a day with YouTube, TikTok, and other social video content, while live TV and streaming services like Netflix took up an average of 3 hours and 20 minutes.
“YouTube hasn’t just become an alternative to TV—it’s already ahead of it,” said Attest. “Tellingly, 23% of Americans primarily watch YouTube on their televisions.”
Predictably, these numbers are even higher for younger age groups. Gen Z watches “by far the most YouTube,” at 2 hours and 25 minutes a day on average. That’s well ahead of Millennials (1 hour 55 minutes), Gen X (1 hour 18 minutes), and Boomers (53 minutes), according to Attest. Men also watch significantly more than women overall at 2 hours and 9 minutes versus 1 hour and 23 minutes.
“The assumption behind most ‘short attention span’ commentary is that video has been chopped into ever-smaller pieces because that’s all people want,” the study explained. “The data tells a more specific story: as creator platforms introduce longer content, it’s gaining eyeballs. Two-thirds of people regularly watch YouTube videos longer than 15 minutes, while 53% watch long-form on Facebook or Instagram and 39% on TikTok.”
“All four of these platforms launched their short-form video products with strict length caps. They have since expanded them repeatedly, visibly chasing consumer demand for longer content, not just short clips.”
Meanwhile, the study also found that people are paying less attention to the TV programming they’re watching, as “only 12% of people give TV their full attention, with no other activity happening alongside it.” The other 88% are doing something else, with 68% of those involving a second screen: scrolling social media, shopping, searching, messaging, or gaming.
Attest’s study also highlighted data regarding a consumer’s willingness to tolerate ads. High ad loads contributed to the shift of viewing from paid TV channels to streaming services and social media platforms, many of which have begun showing more ads.
“Ad frequency tolerance is one of the only genuinely flat patterns in this entire report,” noted researchers. “People say ads become excessive once they’re shown every 14 minutes on streamed TV and every 12 minutes on social video, a threshold that barely moves regardless of generation.”
However, people’s reactions to this issue are not “flat.” 82% of Gen Z always or usually skip ads on social videos, while only 46% of Boomers do the same. On streamed TV it’s 68% versus 36%.
“Everyone hits roughly the same wall; younger audiences just act on it faster and more completely,” Attest explains. “When people can’t skip an ad, only 44% say they continue watching as intended; 34% redirect their attention elsewhere. 17% mute it, and 3% stop watching altogether.”