Teens Prefer Unknown Actors Over Influencers: UCLA Survey — SkimNews
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- Center for Scholars & Storytellers at UCLA released its annual Teens & Screens survey of more than 1,500 adolescents ages 10–24, with support from Roblox, Disney, YouTube, Hopelab, the Nielsen Foundation and Warner Bros. Discovery.
- Only 16.8% of respondents would cast an influencer in a story, while 40% would choose an actor they had never seen before — a tension highlighted by Hollywood's rush to cast online stars like Noah Beck, Brooks Nader and Livvy Dunne in Fox's upcoming Baywatch reboot.
- YouTube led as the top storytelling medium at 72.9%, narrowly ahead of TV (70.3%), movies (70.2%) and video games (68.5%), with TikTok at 64.2%.
- Seeing a new movie in theaters ranked as the top weekend-activity choice for the third consecutive year, followed by playing a new video game and attending a live music show.
- The top three desired story topics were "hopeful, uplifting stories with people beating the odds," "friendships and social groups," and "people with lives like mine"; superheroes placed fifth while partying and drug use ranked last.
- Live-action content regained its preferred-format lead over animation at 58% to 42%, a more than 7-point swing from the prior year.
- Yalda T. Uhls, founder and CEO of CSS, said "the gatekeepers have changed" and urged industry leaders to "tune-in" to what young viewers say they actually want.
Why it matters: The survey directly challenges studios and agencies chasing influencer followings into scripted projects — suggesting that casting a social-media star may actively work against the youth audience those projects are designed to attract. With 40% of young viewers preferring an unknown actor over a recognizable online personality, the Baywatch-style playbook is running counter to self-reported demand from the very demographic advertisers target.
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