Young people spend about twice as much time watching Netflix as live TV, and even more time on YouTube (NFLX, GOOG, GOOGL)

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May 1, 2017 6:52 PM

Teens watch about twice as much Netflix as live TV, and way over twice as much YouTube, according to new research by Trendera, commissioned by AwesomenessTV.

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Teens watch about twice as much Netflix as live TV, and they watch even more YouTube, according to new research on more than 1,500 US teens by Trendera, commissioned by AwesomenessTV (which produces video for 31 different platforms).

On average, teens spent 34% of their video time watching YouTube, compared to 27% watching Netflix, and 14% watching live TV. This puts YouTube and Netflix way ahead of their streaming competitors: Hulu and Amazon came in at 4% and 3% respectively.

This isn't the first indication of YouTube and Netflix's ascendence. In a recent survey of US college students, commissioned by LendEDU, only 8% of respondents said they didn't have a Netflix account. This doesn't mean young people actually pay for Netflix, as 54% said they use a friend’s or family member’s account. But at 92%, that is still an astonishing level of audience penetration.

In contrast, a recent Piper Jaffray survey found that 55% of US teens didn't see the need for a cable or satellite TV subscription, a number that has been steadily rising for the last few years. In 2012, only 32% of teens surveyed thought they could ditch cable and still get all the video they wanted online.

As to what devices teens are using, topping AwesomenessTV's list was a smartphone (34%), followed by computer (26%), and TV set (24%).

Here is the full list of video formats teens are watching, from the Trendera/AwesomenessTV survey:

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