Extra Individuals are watching TV through streaming platforms than each broadcast and cable mixed for the primary time ever.
The discovering comes from Nielson’s month-to-month Gauge report, which was launched 4 years in the past to supply perception on what viewers are watching, in addition to how they’re watching it. The newest report discovered that streaming accounted for 44.8% of whole TV viewership in Could—the most important share on report. In the meantime, broadcast and cable TV solely made up 20.1% and 24.1%, respectively, for a complete of 44.2%.
“It’s becoming that this inflection level coincides with the 4 12 months anniversary of Nielsen’s The Gauge, which has change into the gold customary for streaming TV measurement,” stated Karthik Rao, Nielsen CEO, within the report. “It’s additionally a credit score to media corporations, who’ve deftly tailored their programming methods to satisfy their viewers the place they’re watching TV—whether or not it’s on streaming or linear platforms.”
Beforehand, the Gauge reported one other massive milestone for streaming platforms. In July 2022, for the primary time, streaming topped cable viewership. On the time, it accounted for 34.8% of viewership whereas cable made up 34.4%. Broadcast made up 21.6%. Nevertheless immediately, the mixed whole for each cable and broadcast viewing nonetheless falls behind the proportion of month-to-month streamers.
Predictably, streaming utilization has steadily been growing lately. Since 2021, viewers streamed their leisure 71% greater than they used different sources. Throughout the identical time interval, TV viewers watched (and binge-watched) 21% much less through broadcast. Likewise, cable viewing plummeted by 39%.
Per the report, free companies have been a serious a part of the uptick in viewers streaming content material over the previous 4 years. YouTube, the most-used streaming platform, noticed streaming surge by 120% over the time interval. Final month, the platform accounted for 12.5% of all TV viewership. Netflix, the main Subscription Video On Demand (SVOD) service, noticed a rise in viewership by 27% since 2021.
As viewers maintain turning towards streaming platforms, the companies are evolving to maintain up with demand. In April, Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos defined the platform’s targets for enlargement, which included turning into a trillion-dollar firm. Sarandos defined that video podcasts might quickly be viewable on the platform, saying, “the traces are getting blurry” between podcasts and speak reveals, including, “as the recognition of video podcasts grows, I believe you’ll see a few of them discover their strategy to Netflix.”
Streaming platforms have expanded to incorporate some main occasions, too, which have been as soon as solely obtainable on cable or broadcast. In 2021, the Olympics have been proven on Peacock, NBC’s streaming platform. And this 12 months, even The Tremendous Bowl streamed on Tubi. Likewise, in 2025, the Oscars was viewable on Hulu, making it accessible to these with out cable or broadcast TV for the primary time.
