The amount of time spent viewing streaming services in the United States grew to over 40% in June, the highest level since the inception of Nielsen’s The Gauge.
Disney+, Tubi, Netflix and Max each all produced double-digit monthly usage growth.
Streaming’s share of 40.3% of total TV usage tops the 40.1% set by cable as the previous single category record set by cable in June 2021.
Across streaming platforms, four notched double-digit usage growth including Disney+ (+14.8%), Tubi (+14.7%), Netflix (+11.8%) and Max (+11.0%), all with 20% or more attributable to younger viewers. Additionally, most streaming services achieved shares that were near or equal to previous platform-bests, while YouTube and Tubi both set high watermarks with 9.9% and 2.0% of TV, respectively.
As streaming makes up a larger share of younger viewers’ television time, the category received a disproportionate bump from the 2-17 age demographic, including a 16% increase in viewing from kids 2-11.
Netflix added almost a full share point in June (+0.8 pts.) and jumped to 8.4% of total TV, just a tenth of a share point below its platform best 8.5% which it set in July 2023.
Broadcast claimed 20.5% of total TV time in June, seeing some benefit from viewing increases of 26% in sports and 5% in news. This comes as a result of the top seven most watched broadcast telecasts this month – all of which aired on ABC – including the NBA Finals covering the top five, followed by ABC’s simulcast of CNN’s Presidential Debate, and Game 7 of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals. NBC’s Sunday night broadcast of the women’s gymnastics Olympic Trials settled into the 8th slot among top telecasts with 7.4 million viewers, foreshadowing one of the summer’s biggest TV events.
The cable category, which totaled 27.2% of TV usage in June, also saw big viewership numbers from the CNN Presidential Debate. The simulcasted debate claimed the top two cable telecasts of the month, with CNN leading the pack with over 10 million viewers, followed by Fox News Channel with 9.5 million.
