Content hubs are gaining traction with streaming platforms as a search and discovery tool, according to a new study by Horowitz Research, which notes eight in 10 consumers indicating they watch content from a collection or hub occasionally. Multicultural audiences are turning to using hub resources in significant numbers, with African American streamers engaging at the 80 percent rate, and Asian viewers at 65 percent. The number trends higher — at 77 percent — among less acculturated Asian streamers. Among Latinx streamers, nearly 59 percent say they’ve turned to Latinx content collections, with less acculturated doing so at higher rates (78 percent).

Horowitz found that more than half (52 percent) of LGBTQIA+ streaming consumers report they’ve used LGBTQIA+ content collections/hubs.

“Until the industry works collaboratively to deliver a truly integrated search and discovery experience that comprises content from all possible streaming sources, consumers will continue to struggle to find what to watch” Horowitz Research EVP Adriana Waterston told TV Technology, adding that the “professional curation” these hubs provide are playing an “increasingly relevant” role for content-hungry, search challenged consumers, and “particularly useful for diverse audiences, who are relying on hubs or collections to more easily identify culturally resonant content which is still very much in-demand and yet not always easy to find.”

The study, State of Media, Entertainment and Tech: Viewing Behaviors 2023, “explores how viewers are navigating the increasingly complex viewing ecosystem that includes traditional MVPDs, vMVPDs, SVODs, AVOD, FAST, and OTA content,” analyzing how consumers divide their share of viewing per platform, their go-to discovery sources, and viewing patterns across different platforms, among other things.

Culturally relevant collections were not the only attractions, Horowitz found, with “about eight in 10 streamers” using the curated offerings to find “just released content; popular/most watched content; and content based on viewing history,” TV Technology writes, adding that “additionally, over half of streamers (53 percent) have watched holiday content collection/hubs.”

Per another recent Horowitz study, most of those hubsters are streaming to smart TVs, with 74 percent of U.S. homes owning at least one smart set.

Meanwhile, Gen Z “may be falling out of love with streaming,” according to a survey from marketing outfit InMobi, which found that “18- to 24-year-olds overwhelmingly prefer user-generated content (UGC) to streaming content” with 61 percent of Gen Z claiming UGC content is their favorite, followed by music/podcasts, gaming, then TV, writes Fast Company.