Digital Media Monitor

Based on data from Digital Media Trends, Deloitte’s Digital Media Monitor provides a longitudinal view of US consumers’ engagement and spending on media and entertainment products, services, and subscriptions. We explore the breadth of subscriptions and services consumers use (like streaming video, cable or satellite TV, gaming, and music), their behaviors around subscription video on demand (SVOD) cancellations—which we call “churn”—spending considerations for in-home entertainment and attendance of out-of-home entertainment, their preferences for different types of media, and more.

Digital Media Trends has continuously evolved to meet the changing technologies, trends, and consumer behaviors in the media and entertainment (M&E) industry. Every six months, the Center for Technology, Media & Telecommunications surveys a Census-representative cohort of US consumers, aged 14 and older, to keep an eye on the changes in the M&E industry in American households.

Key Trends

Media & entertainment subscriptions, behaviors, and event attendance

Consumers have myriad media and entertainment services, subscriptions, and activities to choose from—all vying for their time, attention, and money.

Explore consumers’ M&E subscriptions, behaviors, and event attendance

Paid streaming video churn

Streaming video services have long battled consumer churn (the percentage of consumers who have canceled an SVOD service). As consumers get savvier, we also track “churn and return” (the percentage of consumers who have canceled a paid SVOD service and then later returned to that same service).

Explore SVOD churn

Media & entertainment spending

Faced with rising living expenses and tighter budgets, cost-conscious consumers may view entertainment subscriptions (like streaming video, music, and gaming services) as discretionary. They also see entertainment subscription prices rising.

Explore M&E spend

Shifting video preferences

Some consumers—and around half of Gen Zs—increasingly favor social media videos over content on traditional streaming video services. As a result, SVOD services may face new challenges.

Explore shifting video preferences

Media & entertainment subscriptions, behaviors, and event attendance

Consumers have a range of media and entertainment (M&E) services and subscriptions to choose from that are instantly accessible wherever they are, including streaming video, cable or satellite TV, gaming, and music. Many M&E services and activities (including live and in-person events) remain popular, while others are waning, and there are often demographic differences in the users of these services and subscriptions. Explore recent trends in media and entertainment subscriptions, consumer behaviors, and event attendance below.

US consumers have a variety of media and entertainment subscriptions, with most adoption rates remaining steady

KEY TAKEAWAY

Adoption of ad-supported streaming video on demand (AVOD) services continues to increase, with 68% of SVOD subscribing households now having at least one AVOD service, according to the March 2026 Digital Media Trends data. This is up from 54% as of March 2025 reporting.

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Generation: All

Methodology Note

All subscription share figures are based on all US consumers surveyed, except for the figures presented for ad-supported streaming video on demand services, which are based on a smaller subset of US consumers who subscribe to paid SVOD services.

Most US consumers are gamers, and they play video games for several hours weekly

KEY TAKEAWAY

Ninety percent of Gen Zs say they are gamers, followed by 84% of millennials who say the same. On average, Gen Z and millennial gamers dedicate eight hours weekly to playing video games—a number that has stayed largely unchanged in recent years.

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Age: All

Generation: All

Methodology Note

The number of hours spent playing video games per week is based on “gamers” only.

Most US consumers recently watched a movie in a theater; smaller shares attended live music concerts or sporting events

KEY TAKEAWAY

With the popularity of women’s sports on the rise, data suggests 31% of consumers who have attended a college or professional sporting event in person in the last six months say at least one of those events was a women’s sporting event.

Filters

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Age: All

Generation: All

Methodology Note

Figures show the percentage of surveyed consumers who say they’ve attended each of these events in the last six months.