The Rise And Fall Of YA TV: How Creators & Development Execs Are Appealing To Gen Z In The Age Of TikTok

deadline.com:

Is anyone even watching young adult TV anymore? As the entire television ecosystem has been upended in recent years, dedicated spaces for YA content have all but disappeared.

The CW swiftly cancelled nearly all of its scripted series, many of which targeted this audience, over the last few years. Freeform has done the same.

The streamers have largely taken up the mantle on speaking to young audiences, but still questions remain. With the rise of short-form content thanks to TikTok and YouTube, does this new generation of teens and young adults even care for longform, scripted content?

How can streamers compete for Gen Z’s attention in such a fractured landscape? “I don’t think the demand is dwindling,” Greg Berlanti, who has produced some of the most culturally relevant YA content of the past two decades from Dawson’s Creek to Riverdale, told Deadline. “There will always be a place for great YA.