UCLA’s Center for Scholars & Storytellers published its latest annual Teens and Screens report this morning, offering updated insights into what adolescent audiences in the US are seeking in their content.

The findings were based on a survey of 1,500 US adolescents, covering a wide age bracket of tweens, teens and young adults, from 10 to 24 years old. Here are some of the key takeaways from the report:

Animation appeal

Teens sure love toons. Nearly 48.5% of respondents said they prefer watching animated content (an increase from 42% last year) compared with those who prefer live-action content (51.5%). The study noted that this trend remained more or less consistent across demographics regardless of race, geography, sexual orientation or gender. This fits with the recent surging popularity of anime—a trend that the kids industry has been keen to jump on. 

Trending traditional

Despite their reputation for being drawn to online content, 57% of the young respondents said they watch “traditional media” (TV shows and movies) more than older generations think they do. It’s also a driving social factor for teens: When they want to watch something with their friends, respondents chose movies (31.2%) more than any other type of media, and twice as much as social media (15.6%). But when it comes to where they watch, 46.7% said they consume TV and movies on a personal device other than their TV.

Platonic power

Continuing the “nomance” trend we’ve seen in past editions of the report, nearly 60% of older teens and YA respondents (ages 14 to 24) said they wanted more content in which friendships are the central relationships, rather than romantic pairings. The under-18 crowd is especially keen on seeing characters of different genders building friendships without developing romantic feelings for each other. Another TV trope to stay away from? A majority of teens are opposed to seeing excessive love triangles on screen, the report says. 

Relatability reigns

While last year’s study saw teens yearning for far-away worlds, the trend has flipped, with more teens craving “relatable stories that are like my personal life,” at 32.7%—ranking above fantasy content (25.2%), real-world issues (18.6%) or aspirational themes (12.3%). Teens also said they wanted to see more hopeful and uplifting stories on screen.

Content faves

Netflix live-actioners Stranger Things and Wednesday (pictured) and Nickelodeon toon SpongeBob SquarePants emerged as the top three properties teens said they love the most. The top-10 list also included perennial kids favorite web-slinger Spider-Man and, of course, 2025’s breakout Netflix hit K-Pop Demon Hunters. 

You can read the full report on the UCLA website.

Image courtesy: Helen Sloan/Netflix