Subtitles gain traction among young viewers, AP-NORC finds

Subtitles are increasingly a staple for younger viewers, according to a new AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll. The survey found that about 4 in 10 adults under 45 use subtitles at least often when watching TV or movies, compared with roughly 3 in 10 adults older than 45, and significantly more than those 60 and older, who tend to never use captions.

Taylor Heine, 35, of Johnson City, Tennessee, says she often watches with subtitles because she multitasks at home. “I’ll be playing on the phone, loving on my animals, maybe cleaning, picking up,” she says. “That way I can kind of switch back and forth, be able to listen to it or look back at the screen and I know what’s going on.” Subtitles also help her fiancé: “When he’s cooking or banging around in the kitchen, that way I don’t have to blare the TV.”

The AP-NORC poll, which included 1,182 adults, found that the tilt toward captions is strongest among those under 45. The poll was conducted Aug. 21-25 using NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, and the margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 3.8 percentage points. In addition to the age gap, researchers noted notable reasons people turn on captions that reflect a mix of environment, comprehension and listening conditions.

Those who use them often said they do so for a range of practical reasons. About 55% of subtitle users say they want to catch every word, while roughly 4 in 10 cite difficulty understanding accents or a foreign-language element as a driver. A sizable share—about 3 in 10—use captions because they are watching in a noisy environment, and roughly a quarter do so because the audio quality is unclear.

David Barber, a sound editor and president of the Motion Picture Sound Editors, says the pattern is partly cultural. “What the younger kids are doing is, a lot of them will multitask. They’ll listen to music while they’re watching a show. So they’re catching bits and pieces of this, bits and pieces of that. I think they probably are half-listening and half-watching. It’s an interesting phenomenon.”

Subtitles are framed as a tool for accuracy as well as accessibility. Karol Urban, a sound designer, notes that dialogue can be harder to discern when it sits beneath music and effects. “There is now simply a lot more sound competing with dialogue,” Urban says. “Back in the day there were a lot fewer sound effects, fewer music swells. When you add more things under dialogue, you’re adding more frequencies and things that can interfere with dialogue.”

The poll also highlights how individual experiences shape caption use across generations. Ariaunna Davis, 21, of Tampa, Florida, says she typically uses subtitles if she is in an environment where she cannot hear the audio or does not want to blast the volume, or if she cannot understand a character’s accent. “If I want to know most of the words that are being said and the audio’s a bit iffy, then that’s the moment I’ll mostly use captions,” she says.

Adrian Alaniz, 31, of Midland, Texas, says subtitles help him understand dialogue in animated shows, where dubbed audio and on-screen text sometimes misalign. “Sometimes the audio doesn’t come across as clearly and the subtitles do help in that matter,” he says. The poll shows that a notable portion of respondents use captions for such translation and clarity issues.

About 3 in 10 U.S. adults use subtitles because they are watching in a noisy environment, and roughly one-quarter say they do so because of poor audio quality. Barber emphasizes that even viewers with normal hearing may experience listening challenges at home, where speakers may be behind or angled away from listeners, and listeners might be multitasking in busy rooms. “You’re not listening on a stellar sound system to start with,” he notes.

The rise of captions also intersects with production choices. Urban points out that some performances feature a more intimate style of acting, which can reduce vocal projection. When combined with dense soundscapes—music swells, ambient effects, and background chatter—dialogue can fall behind the mix. Captions provide a reliable read on what is being said, even when the room is not ideal.

Davis, who cites Game of Thrones as a show where subtitles are frequently helpful, says she often relies on captions to avoid constantly tweaking the volume as scenes shift from quiet dialogue to loud music. “A lot of times the speaking is low in particular scenes,” she explains. “Then the next scene will be just music and it’s blasting through the walls.”

The AP-NORC survey also highlights a generation gap in why captions are used. About one-quarter of subtitle users say they turn them on because they are watching while multitasking. Younger viewers are more likely than those 45 and older to cite noisy environments or multitasking as reasons. Older users are more likely to say captions help with difficult accents or hearing impairments. Among adults 60 and older who use captions, roughly 30% say they use them for hearing impairment, compared with 7% of younger adults.

Patricia Gill, 67, of Columbus, Tennessee, does not use captions herself. She notes that her grandson, however, often has subtitles on when watching movies. “He’s a typical almost-teenager, he just likes watching his phone,” she says. When she misses an important line, she tends to rewind. It’s a small window into how caption use can differ even within households.

The poll’s authors emphasize that the rise in caption use is not limited to a single demographic. While younger adults are more likely to turn on captions for practical reasons, older listeners still rely on captions for clarity and comprehension in a world of increasingly complex sound design. The data paints a picture of captions as a common tool in the modern viewing room, one that reflects both how people watch and how media is produced to be more accessible, adaptable and resilient across environments.

In all, about 4 in 10 adults under 45 use subtitles often, and roughly 3 in 10 adults over 45 do so. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 3.8 percentage points. The poll underscores a broad cultural shift in how audiences engage with screens—one that blends listening, reading, and multitasking into a single viewing experience.

This evolving viewing habit appears to be shaping both consumer expectations and how content is produced and mixed for audiences around the country. As captions become more embedded in mainstream entertainment, broadcasters and streaming platforms are adjusting to a landscape where readers and listeners share the same screen, and where dialogue can demand more precise emphasis in a world of varied listening environments.