Gen Z vs millennials – the great British TV divide
Last updated: November 10, 2025
There's this divide quietly playing out in living rooms all over Britain, and it's got nothing to do with whose turn it is to pick something. It's about whether we're even watching the same way anymore.
The viewing habits that define us
Ask a millennial what's on their watchlist and they'll go on about some ten-episode series they can't seem to keep up with, even though they only started it last week. Or they'll admit they're finally watching that show everyone was losing their minds over two years ago.
Gen Z, though? They're scrolling TikTok at 1 am, watching 47-second clips of reality shows they've never actually watched, figuring out if something's worth their time based entirely on whether it's giving or if it's giving absolutely nothing.
How we learned to watch
The difference isn't just generational stubbornness. It's about how we learned to consume television. Millennials caught the very end of when TV was still an event you had to show up for. They'd literally race home on Thursday nights so they wouldn't miss Friends. They'd plant themselves in front of the TV for Big Brother evictions like it was mandatory. And Lost? People would gather around at work on Friday mornings, all trying to piece together what the hell they just watched. It's like they were conditioned to be loyal to shows – you pick one, you commit, you ride it out even when it clearly stops being good somewhere in the middle.
Gen Z never signed that contract. They grew up after Netflix had already taken over, when an algorithm started telling you what to watch next, and when shows went from those massive 22-episode seasons down to a tight eight. They'll bail on a show after one episode and not think twice about it – something that still makes millennials weirdly uncomfortable. Millennials were raised to finish what they started, even if it meant suffering through the slow middle episodes.
What this means for british telly
But here's what's interesting. Both generations are watching more than ever, just differently. Millennials binge-watch entire series in guilty weekend marathons then pretend we've been keeping up all along. Gen Z watches in fragments, scattered across platforms and devices, somehow still managing to stay current on everything.
The real question isn't who's doing it right. It's whether traditional British television can survive appealing to both. Because right now, it's trying to serve two completely different audiences who can't even agree on what "watching TV" actually means anymore.
