More People Are Now Watching TV on Streaming than Broadcast and Cable Combined, Nielsen Says

Just 4 years ago, ratings work Nielsen launched its monthly The Gauge reports search TV viewership betwixt broadcast television, cable, and streaming. In that time, streaming viewership has gotten possibly moreover bigger than you realize. And for its May 2025 report, it deed a caller milestone.

Nielsen says that for nan first clip since it has been search via The Gauge, nan magnitude of clip group walk watching TV via streaming services has surpassed nan magnitude they watch accepted broadcast tv and cablegram TV — combined.

Streaming accounted for 44.8 percent of each TV viewership successful nan U.S., while cablegram was conscionable 24.1 percent and broadcast was 20.1 percent. Compare that to May 2021, erstwhile streaming was conscionable 26 percent of each TV viewing, and cablegram was up astatine 39 percent. Nielsen says it’s a 71 percent summation successful wide TV usage for streaming. And if you tin judge it, only half of that is from your kid watching “Bluey” episodes connected repeat.

Less than a twelvemonth ago, we wrote that streaming collapsed different record and for nan first clip was bigger than cablegram ever was (or astatine slightest since 2021), but now it’s clawing distant astatine some broadcast and cable. It should beryllium a astonishment to nary 1 that viewership for broadcast and cablegram is dwindling, but Nielsen says nan 2 bequest forms of media show “surprising resilience.”

Back successful 2021, conscionable 5 streaming services had much than 1 percent of each eyeballs watching TV: Netflix, YouTube, Hulu, Prime Video, and Disney+. Now that database has grown to 11 platforms that person a accordant stock of viewing, including 5.7 percent of each viewing coming from FAST transmission platforms Pluto, Tubi, and Roku Channel. Paramount+ and Peacock person besides secured coagulated marketplace shares, arsenic has nan mixed viewing of HBO Max and Discovery+ (though Apple TV+ is still absent from crossing Nielsen’s 1 percent threshold).

YouTube is still king, but Netflix’s viewing stock has gone up 27 percent since May 2021 and this twelvemonth had 7.5 percent of each TV viewing. Some of Netflix’s boost came from its 2 Christmas Day NFL games past year, which was nan biggest streaming time successful history, according to Nielsen. The influx of sports to places for illustration Peacock and Prime Video will only widen nan gap. However, Nielsen says that erstwhile shot and immoderate deed autumn shows travel backmost later successful nan year, it’s apt broadcast whitethorn temporarily triumph backmost a higher share.

So what do each these numbers mean for creators? It intends nan displacement distant from broadcast and cablegram is happening faster than moreover group thought, and that’s going to effect nan consolidation of companies that are correct now separating their cablegram channels from their workplace and streaming businesses. It besides suggests creators should beryllium paying much attraction to FAST, arsenic location are a batch of eyeballs location for your work.

Take a look astatine nan afloat study here.