By Adrian Black

Australians are spending more on media streaming services, but are watching less overall, a new study shows.

Media consumption is more than a full-time job for most Aussies, who consume an average of 44 hours of digital entertainment each week, according to Deloitte’s annual media insights report.

The survey of thousands of media consumers across five generations found people spend as much time watching free-to-air TV as streaming services, and nearly three in four consumed some form of media first thing in the morning.

“Prime time means something different to everyone in 2024,” Deloitte telecommunications, media and entertainment lead partner Peter Corbett said.

“Streaming services are on the precipice of eclipsing traditional free-to-air television in popularity, while different formats are winning the battle for our attention at various times of the day.”

But as the burgeoning list of streaming players and TV channels vie for attention, people are watching less, especially younger generations.

For generation Z, weekly consumption was down by a quarter on the year before, and by 10 per cent across the broader population.

Subscriptions per household increased slightly to 3.3 this year, despite price hikes pushing the average monthly spend from $57 to $63.

Though Gen Z households spend $88 a month on subscriptions – almost double that of baby boomers.

At the same time, their social media use declined, falling from almost 13 hours to slightly more than 10 hours each week.

Limiting younger people’s access to social media had widespread support, with 90 per cent of respondents backing restrictions for 16-year-olds.

Social media as a source of fact was also an area of concern.

Most Aussies were skeptical of news consumed through social platforms, with about half trusting the source, compared to 73 per cent of respondents who had faith in traditional media.

“Australians still retain considerable trust in legacy media platforms, with a strong preference for Australian-owned outlets,” Mr Corbett said.

TV news programs were the main source of news for more than a third of respondents, while 17 per cent got their news from social media.

Only 28 per cent of respondents felt AI-generated content was a trustworthy news source.