(Panel participants from left to right: Jutta Croll, Stiftung Digitale Chancen, Dirk Beinhold, Vice Chairman of Animation Europe, Germany, Mathias Holtz, President Europa Cinemas & Cinema Consultant, Folkets Hus och Parker, Sweden and Oliver Schablitzki, CEO Super RTL.)
Under the title ‘Media Consumption Habits of Young People in Europe’, the European Film Market Industry Sessions at the Berlinale discussed the media habits of young people and analysed the impact of these habits on the competitiveness of the EU audiovisual industry and the prospects for cultural diversity in European media. Joining Jutta Croll, who brought the perspective of civil society to the debate, on the panel were Dirk Beinhold, Vice Chairman of Animation Europe, Germany, Mathias Holtz, President of Europa Cinemas & Cinema Consultant, Folkets Hus och Parker, Sweden and Oliver Schablitzki, CEO Super RTL.
45 per cent of young Europeans aged between 18 and 30 cite social media when asked which medium they spend the most time with; compared to 25 per cent of the over-30s. Listening to music comes in second place among the younger generation with 23 per cent. Us of Media such as films, series and documentaries, sporting events or watching the news are all only in the single digit percentage range for this age group. Jutta Croll confirmed that, according to the JIM and KIM studies and based on their her own research, this trend can also be observed among under-18s and even among the six to 13-year-olds. Alluding to the title of the discussion, she suggested that the primacy of social media platforms should not only be discussed in terms of media consumption, but rather the productive use of digital media by young people, who are already generating and publishing their own content as children.
Renate Nikolay, Deputy Director General of DG CNECT, opened the discussion by emphasising the role of the Digital Services Act in view of the great importance of social media for the younger generation, referring to the results of the European Media Industry Outlook study. Jutta Croll emphasised that young people no longer need to be addressed solely as consumers, but rather as interactive users with age-appropriate content. This also means that access to digital services should be regulated according to age. While the age of visitors can at least be checked at the cinema box office and TV content underlies at least certain broadcasting time restrictions, the age thresholds of social media platforms are hardly controlled and are regularly circumvented even by under-13s, which can lead to developmental impairments, especially for the youngest. At the same time, according to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, young people have a right to access the media and to cultural participation, says Croll, which is why usage restrictions should be discussed and implemented taking into account the age and maturity level of young people.
The European Media Industry Outlook also shows clear generational differences in how people choose media content. While the over-30s are primarily guided by recommendations from traditional channels such as newspapers, radio and TV, for young people recommendations on streaming service websites and social media play the most the important role for young people when deciding what content to engage with.
Jutta Croll explained that measures such as the German Federal government's KulturPass are therefore absolutely essential to ensure that the younger generation has access to a wide range of cultural opportunities. Mathias Holtz also confirmed the positive effects of cultural promotion aimed directly at the younger generation, referring to comparable programmes in France (Pass Culture) and Italy.
The full European Media Industry Outlook is expected to be published in the first half of 2025.