{"id":30735,"date":"2025-10-22T11:28:33","date_gmt":"2025-10-22T15:28:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/report-adolescents-want-more-relatability-friendship-on-tv\/"},"modified":"2025-10-28T09:45:56","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T13:45:56","slug":"report-adolescents-want-more-relatability-friendship-on-tv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/report-adolescents-want-more-relatability-friendship-on-tv\/","title":{"rendered":"Report: Adolescents Want More Relatability & Friendship on TV"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2025 Teens and Screens<\/em> report from UCLA\u2019s Center for Scholars & Storytellers has found that the 10-to-24 set is seeking relatable, friendship-driven stories on TV.<\/p>\n

Of the 1,500 adolescents who were surveyed, 59.7 percent indicated they want to see more content where the central relationships are friendships. In addition to prioritizing friendship, 32.7 percent reported they most like to watch relatable stories that are similar to their personal lives over fantasy, real-world issues and aspirational stories.<\/p>\n

Friendship is a highly important factor for those surveyed, with 60.9 percent reporting wanting to see more romantic relationships that are focused more on the friendship aspect between the couple than on sex. 54.9 percent of those surveyed want to see different-gender characters prioritize their friendship instead of turning it into a romantic relationship.<\/p>\n

Out of 19 topics, adolescents ranked friendship third, with 57.7 percent reporting high interest, while romance ranked third to last, with only 36.5 percent indicating high interest.<\/p>\n

Given the choice between animated and live-action titles, nearly as many adolescents said they prefer animated content (48.5 percent) as those who prefer live-action (51.5 percent). A preference for animation did not differ significantly across age, race, geography, sexual orientation or gender.<\/p>\n

Also, 57 percent of tweens, teens and young adults said they watch TV and movies more than older generations think they do\u2014they just consume content in different ways. 78.4 percent reported watching TV and movies on YouTube, TikTok and social media at least sometimes. In a separate question, nearly half\u201446.7 percent\u2014said they mostly watch TV and movies on a personal device other than their TV.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe findings in this report paint a picture of tweens, tweens and young adults who are both more engaged with traditional storytelling and more discerning about it than many adults realize,\u201d the report said. \u201cThey haven\u2019t abandoned TV shows and movies\u2014they\u2019ve simply redefined how and where they watch them, and they treat shows and movies as a means for connection. At the same time, they\u2019re hungry for stories that reflect their actual lives more than fantasy or glamor. They want to see people who look like them and face challenges like theirs. And perhaps most tellingly, they want to see relationships that are often central to them: authentic friendships, and especially bonds between people of different genders that don\u2019t necessarily turn romantic. This doesn\u2019t seem to be a rejection of romance\u2014rather, it\u2019s a call for relatable stories that honor the full spectrum of human connection.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA through-line at the heart of these findings is a deeper truth about how adolescents use media: they\u2019re seeking connection,\u201d the report continued. \u201cThey want to relate to the characters they see, connect with parts of themselves they see represented, and perhaps most of all, they want to build community with their peers. This breadth of types of connections is what makes media a unique third space for young people\u2014one where they can explore identity, process their emotions and experiences and create shared cultural touchstones with their friends.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 2025 Teens and Screens report from UCLA\u2019s Center for Scholars & Storytellers has found that the 10-to-24 set is seeking relatable, friendship-driven stories on TV.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1412,"featured_media":30736,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[78,21],"tags":[11584,11585,11586],"class_list":["post-30735","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-analysis","category-top-stories","tag-center-for-scholars-storytellers","tag-teens-and-screens","tag-ucla","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\nReport: Adolescents Want More Relatability & Friendship on TV - TVKIDS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/report-adolescents-want-more-relatability-friendship-on-tv\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Report: Adolescents Want More Relatability & Friendship on TV - TVKIDS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The 2025 Teens and Screens report from UCLA\u2019s Center for Scholars & Storytellers has found that the 10-to-24 set is seeking relatable, friendship-driven stories on TV.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/report-adolescents-want-more-relatability-friendship-on-tv\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TVKIDS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-10-22T15:28:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-28T13:45:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/10\/TeensandScreens-2025-1025.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"394\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jamie Stalcup\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jamie Stalcup\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/report-adolescents-want-more-relatability-friendship-on-tv\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/report-adolescents-want-more-relatability-friendship-on-tv\/\",\"name\":\"Report: Adolescents Want More Relatability & Friendship on TV - TVKIDS\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-22T15:28:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-28T13:45:56+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#\/schema\/person\/0da12602224807cc7b179b8405018deb\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/report-adolescents-want-more-relatability-friendship-on-tv\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/report-adolescents-want-more-relatability-friendship-on-tv\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/report-adolescents-want-more-relatability-friendship-on-tv\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Report: Adolescents Want More Relatability & Friendship on TV\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/\",\"name\":\"TVKIDS\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#\/schema\/person\/0da12602224807cc7b179b8405018deb\",\"name\":\"Jamie Stalcup\",\"description\":\"Jamie Stalcup is the executive editor of World Screen. 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