Why Gen Z and Gen Alpha are feasting on TV comfort food

John Campbell is simply a elder vice president astatine Walt Disney Co. who oversees streaming advertisement sales. He besides coaches his second-grade daughter’s hoops squad and precocious asked her teammates to sanction their favourite TV show.

“Eleven retired of 13 girls said ‘Hannah Montana,’ ” Campbell said successful a caller interview, citing the fashionable Disney bid starring Miley Cyrus that produced its past occurrence successful 2011, earlier immoderate of his players were born.

Campbell was pleased they selected a amusement from the Disney library, but wasn’t each that amazed based connected the advertizing request he’s seeing for the company’s vintage shows.

A caller survey from National Research Group recovered that 60% of each TV consumed is room content. Among Gen Z, 40% accidental they ticker older shows due to the fact that they find them comforting and nostalgic. Disney’s ain probe finds that 25% of the programs kids telephone their favorites were made earlier 2010.

While newer cutting-edge bid typically triumph captious kudos and accolades, Gen Z and Gen Alpha viewers are binge-watching programs that became hits connected the broadcast and cablegram networks successful the pre-streaming era. They are besides devouring vacation movies and specials, adjacent connected accepted TV.

“We bash see, particularly astir the vacation time, that radical are looking for that comfort, that consciousness of ease,” Campbell said.

As much TV advertisement spending moves from accepted networks to streaming, Campbell said Disney is capitalizing connected the retro inclination acknowledgment to its monolithic room of series. The institution has seen the Gen Z audiences devour hits of yesteryear specified arsenic “How I Met Your Mother,” “Modern Family” and “Golden Girls.”

Miley Cyrus and Emily Osment successful Disney’s “Hannah Montana.”

(Joel Warren/2006 Disney Channel)

“Scrubs” and “Malcolm successful the Middle” are specified beardown performers connected Hulu and Disney+, the institution has ordered reboots that advertisers are anxious to beryllium a portion of, according to Campbell. Disney has adjacent worked with advertisers to marque throwback commercials to tally successful classical films connected its streaming platforms and TV networks.

“The younger assemblage is drawn to the perceived simplicity of the aged times and humor,” Kavita Vazirani, enforcement vice president of research, insights and analytics, ABC News Group & Disney Entertainment Networks. “It’s programming that conscionable makes them consciousness good, and it’s thing that they tin ticker with their friends, their families.”

Older shows person agelong had a spot among young viewers. Previous generations grew up watching reruns of “The Brady Bunch” and “I Love Lucy” aft school, erstwhile their choices connected broadcast TV were scant.

But the existent spectator has an endless plethora of viewing choices done streaming and cable. One enforcement astatine different media institution not authorized to remark publically cited probe that said teens and young adults are gravitating to the much accepted sitcoms and dramas from the aboriginal 2000s, believing they were made explicitly for their property group.

During the era, the WB Network — aboriginal merged into the CW — was turning retired young big dramas specified arsenic “The Gilmore Girls” and “Dawson’s Creek,” portion the Disney Channel was astatine the tallness of its popularity. “Friends,” the idealized rendering of municipality beingness for young adults and agelong a favourite connected streaming, was the ratings person astatine the time.

The appetite for specified programs showed up successful the astir caller “Teens and Screens” survey by the Center for Scholars & Storytellers @ UCLA recovered that among the 10- to 24 year-olds, 32.7% said they privation to spot “relatable stories that are similar my idiosyncratic life.” The erstwhile year, the apical reply was fantasy, which ranked 2nd successful 2025.

But different crushed young viewers are digging into the vaults is volume.

The UCLA survey showed that the favourite amusement among the measured property radical is the Netflix bid “Stranger Things.” The bid has lone 42 episodes implicit 5 small-batch seasons.

When a young spectator finds an older palmy bid that ran connected a web for years erstwhile 22 episodes per play was standard, they tin binge for hundreds of hours.

“There are a batch of seasons of disposable episodes that you tin watch, successful typically immoderate random bid you privation to,” said Nii Mantse Addy, main selling serviceman astatine the streaming work Philo, which besides has seen a crisp emergence successful viewing of room programs.

“There’s not arsenic overmuch determination fatigue,” Addy said. “The shows supply thing that you tin spell backmost to and conscionable crook connected and cognize benignant of however it’s going to marque you feel.”

Executives besides accidental that binge-watching aged shows provides a respite from the angst young radical acquisition portion scrolling done societal media, which escalated done the COVID-19 lockdowns.

But societal media person besides been a instrumentality to assistance consumers observe caller programs. Fans of vintage bid station TikTok videos reacting to episodes that archetypal aired years ago. There are besides instrumentality communities online and “re-watch” podcasts that are driving radical to question retired programs.

“Social media has been rather a catalyst for fundamentally introducing these aged shows to a full caller audience, whether it’s done memes, viral clips oregon immoderate it whitethorn be,” Vazirani said. “It’s similar the modern time h2o cooler, essentially.”