PORTSMOUTH, N.H.—New survey data highlights how smart TVs are becoming the most influential gatekeepers in entertainment, playing an increasingly important role in how viewers discover and watch content.

Data from Hub Entertainment Research’s annual “Evolution of the TV Set” indicates that asking "What good TV shows are you watching?" may be less relevant than asking, "What TV set do you own?" in terms of viewing habits and the ability of smart TV operating systems to influence those choices.

Fox's recent $22 billion acquisition of Roku is the clearest signal yet that control of the TV operating system is becoming one of the industry's most valuable strategic assets, the research suggests.

The “Evolution of the TV Set” study, which reveals the growing influence of the TV set in shaping how viewers discover and engage with content, finds that the operating systems powering today’s smart TVs have become the primary doorway for both programming and advertising.

"The conversation around finding great TV to watch is poised to become like the `Mac vs. PC' or `Android vs. iPhone' battles from prior years — as viewers learn that some TV operating systems do better jobs than others at helping them find good stuff to watch," said Jason Platt Zolov, senior consultant at Hub. "The merger of Fox and Roku will be a watershed proof point that some streamers will have more influence than others, depending on what TV set you own."

Key findings from the report include:

• Smart TVs dominate viewing, and streaming households are embracing Roku and Fire TV more than Android, Tizen (Samsung) or webOS (LG) systems that power those sets.
• Most homes have three TVs, and two of those are now smart TVs, making them more dominant than ever.
• For the TV set they use most, streaming TV viewers are no longer flipping channels: they are living in app-centric environments that are increasingly powered by Roku (37%) and Fire TV (17%), well ahead of Android, Tizen or Apple TV users.

The researchers noted that within different TV operating systems, the viewer's goal is clear: "how can I quickly find a specific program I want to watch?"

When asked to rank what matters most, viewers rank "Easy search" as the most valued discovery feature (60% call it “very important”), well ahead of "personal recommendations" (31%) or seeing "trending content" (25%).

AI-powered TV search features are poised to help viewers solve this search problem. When asked to choose the most valuable AI-powered TV viewing features, more than half of viewers want AI features that either help them find similar things they like (27%) or more effectively exclude stuff they don't like (28%).

While quick search is most important, home screen real estate and recommendations still significantly impact what people watch.

Some TV operating systems sway users more than others: suggested titles on the TV home screen within Apple TV, Fire TV, Android and Roku environments are all more likely to be watched than those titles being suggested by Samsung (Tizen) and LG (webOS), the survey found.

As viewers continue to invest in smart TVs, the vital importance of influencing consumers to install apps when they first turn on their new TV cannot be overstated, the researchers stressed.

Half (51%) say they install suggested apps during setup — but more (56%) this year than in 2024 (47%) say they rarely add apps after that first day home with the TV — a reminder that more needs to be done to capture new TV owners with apps they will love.

These findings are from Hub’s 2026 “Evolution of the TV Set” report, based on a survey conducted among 2,500 US consumers ages 16-74. Interviews were conducted in May 2026. A free excerpt of the findings is available on Hub’s website.

NEW YORK—New data from Nielsen’s The Gauge, shows that broadcast viewership came roaring back in September as football drove an unprecedented monthly spike in viewing of broadcast programming.

Time spent watching broadcast programming shot up 20% month-over-month (compared to +3% across all TV) to generate an impressive gain of 3.2 share points, Nielsen reported.

That was the largest monthly increases in volume and share for any category in The Gauge since tracking began in May 2021. On top of that, broadcast concluded September with 22.3% of overall television viewing, which put it slightly ahead of the cable category on an unrounded basis for the first time ever in The Gauge, the researchers reported. (When the shares are rounded to one decimal, cable and broadcast tied at 22.3%.)

The record jump for broadcast was attributable to NFL and college football, as sports viewership tripled to represent 33% of broadcast’s total in September, versus 11% in August. In fact, 15 telecasts this month—all NFL games, across CBS, FOX and NBC—outpaced last month’s most-watched telecast, with September’s biggest audience more than doubling it.

On cable, sports viewership increased by 11% in September, and NFL games also dominated the category’s most-watched telecasts. The top five cable telecasts this month included four Monday Night Football games on ESPN, plus the first international NFL game of the season on NFL Network. The primary driver of September cable viewing, however, was news, which increased 9% and represented over a quarter of the category’s viewing total, the researchers said.

Notably, viewing gains for broadcast and cable were driven primarily by younger audiences, indicating strong engagement with the expanded sports slate. The largest monthly increases for both categories came from 25-34 year-olds, as broadcast viewing among that group climbed 65%, and cable viewing was up 16%.

Streaming continued to dominate TV usage and owned 45.2% of total watch-time in September. The impact of football extended into streaming this month as well, most notably with Amazon Prime Video. The streamer notched its most-watched NFL Thursday Night Football game ever on the platform on September 11, as the Commanders-Packers matchup generated over 3 billion minutes viewed.

Nielsen also reported that Roku remained the number one most watched FAST channel.

As summer ended, there was a reduced number of billion-minute titles in Nielsen’s weekly Streaming Top 10, where a streaming-heavy July saw 18 titles exceed one billion weekly viewing minutes, compared to 10 titles in September.

Although YouTube continued to feel the back-to-school impact from 6-17 year-olds, declining 2% versus August, it remained the most-watched streaming platform and represented 12.6% of television viewing in September.

The data for the September 2025 interval spanned four weeks, from 09/01/2025 through 09/28/2025, Nielsen said.

NEW YORK—Nielsen’s rankings of media distributors by their share of total TV viewing saw YouTube, Disney and Netflix remain the top three ranked companies in August as the start of the football season helped Disney and Fox increase their share of TV viewing.

Nielsen’s Media Distributor Gauge for August showed that #2 ranked Disney climbed to 9.7% of TV watch-time in August (+0.3 share points vs. July), as football coverage helped drive a 4% bump for ABC affiliates and a 25% surge for ESPN. The viewing impact from Fox affiliates contributed to a 14% monthly uptick, leading #6-ranked Fox to represent 6.7% of TV (+0.2 points).

While the effects of a new football season will not be fully evident until September, its late-month impact was a clear indicator of what’s to come, Nielsen researchers reported.

When comparing the first and last weeks of the August interval (07/28/25-08/03/25 vs. 08/25/25-08/31/25), viewing to Fox affiliates was up 36%, ABC affiliates gained 29%, and ESPN surged 196%, which was due at least in part to a memorable season premiere of College GameDay.

What’s more, Disney’s share of TV started at 8.9% in the first week of the month, and concluded with 11.5% of TV in the final week.

This football-driven surge countered the back-to-school drop in viewing among school-aged audiences, with streaming viewership being the most impacted by this group, a dynamic that was previously described in the August report of The Gauge.

Top-ranked YouTube gave up 0.3 share points and finished the month with a 13.1% share of TV. Meanwhile, Netflix held steady in third, behind Disney in second, with 8.7% of television (-0.1 point) on the strength of owning the top four streaming titles of the month.

Beyond the top three, shares for NBCUniversal and Paramount remained even with July, finishing with 7.6% and 7.1%*, respectively. Like Disney and Fox, both NBCU and Paramount were buoyed by gains across their broadcast affiliates as the two also benefited from the return of football.

The August 2025 interval spanned five weeks, from 07/28/2025 through 08/31/2025. Nielsen reporting follows the broadcast calendar, with weekly intervals beginning on Monday.

NEW YORK—While live sports continues to be a mainstay of TV programming and a reliable producer of large audiences, a new survey from consumer research platform Attest indicates that live TV viewing continues to fall out of favor with consumers, particularly younger viewers.

Attest’s sixth annual “U.S. Media Consumption Report,” which covers how Americans consume television, audio, news and social media, found the share of consumers watching three or more hours of TV of any type per day stands at 56% in 2025, down from 61% last year and 63% the year before. The most committed TV watchers are those aged 50 to 67, (66% of whom watch at least three hours a day).

Live TV bore the brunt of the showdown. Slightly less than three in ten consumers (28%) of consumers said they generally don't watch any live TV on an average day (up from 24% last year and 20% in 2023), with even high percentages avoiding live TV among younger viewers.

A hefty 41% of under-30s reported that they typically don’t watch live TV (versus 27% of 31-49s and 20% of over-50s). Under-30s who do watch live TV are most likely to say they watch it for between 30 minutes to one hour per day.

The survey also found that viewing times for streaming services have also decreased, with a 4 percentage-point decline in people watching for three or more hours, and a corresponding increase in those streaming in one- to two-hour viewing sessions.

A third of consumers now stream TV for one to two hours per day, the researchers said. People under the age of 30 watch the most, with one quarter typically viewing programming on a streaming TV platform for one to two hours a day and another quarter chalking up three to four hours per day.

The survey also provided some specific data on individual streamers. After suffering a 9-point decline in regular viewers last year, according to Attest’s data, Netflix has only managed to regain a couple of percentage points. Overall, about 64% of consumers say they watch Netflix at least once a week.

The research found that Prime Video and Disney+ have enjoyed the most growth, both increasing weekly viewers by four percentage points. Sitting at 49%, Prime Video now enjoys its highest percentage of weekly viewers since Attest has been measuring this data point, while Disney+ is yet to surpass its 2023 peak of 38% (currently at 35%).

Other TV streamers remain more or less static, aside from Max, which has recorded a 4 percentage point loss to 25%. This compounds the previous year’s loss, when viewership fell from 33% to 29%. Apple TV+, meanwhile, continues to struggle to secure any meaningful U.S. market share, watched weekly by just 12%.

Looking at the viewing profile of different streamers, 18-to-30-year-olds are the top viewers of Netflix (77%), Hulu (57%) and Disney+ (46%). Consumers aged 31 to 49 dominate Prime Video (55.5%), Paramount+ (31%), YouTube TV (19%) and Apple TV+ (13.5%). Meanwhile, Peacock, Apple TV+ and Sling have a fairly even age distribution, the study found.

In terms of digital news, young Americans are accessing digital content less regularly: 41% of the 18-30 demo now views digital news at least once a week (a decline of 7 percentage points from last year), while 20% read digital magazine content weekly.

The over-50s are the biggest consumers of digital news, with 66% accessing it weekly, an increase of 6 percentage points. This age group is also more likely to be viewing digital magazine content than previously (weekly viewing is up four percentage points to 20%), but it’s 31-to-49-year-olds who read the most: 27% access it at least once a week.

Men are also more likely to access both news (60% vs. 54% for women), and magazine content (27% vs. 20% of women) on a weekly basis.

While the survey once again documented the ongoing decline of traditional media like TV, radio and newspapers, it also found declines in social media usage, particularly in the over-30 demo and among heavy social media users who spend more than three hours a day with the platforms.

The percentage of consumers spending three plus hours on social media per day has decreased by 6.5 percentage points to 30%. The decline comes primarily from Americans aged 31 to 49, who have cut back on three-hour-plus sessions for a second year running (down by 10 percentage points to 27%). This age group has significantly slashed long scrolling sessions since 2023, when 45% spent more than three hours on social per day. Now, they’re most likely to say they spend one to two hours online per day.

Consumers under 30s have also reduced the amount of time they spend online, recording a seven percentage point drive in sessions over three hours since last year. However, a sizable 46% still spend long durations on social platforms each day. Looking at just how much time 18 to 30s spend scrolling, Attest sees 21% spend three to four hours, 16% spend five to six hours and an addicted 9% spend more than six hours a day.

Older Americans (aged 50-67) typically spend up to an hour on social media each day, and only 21% spend more than three hours. When it comes to the biggest doomscrollers, women are three times more likely than men to spend six or more hours a day on social platforms (10% versus 3%). Interestingly, consumers with a lower household income are also notably more likely to indulge in long social sessions than higher earners (33% versus 22% spend over three hours a day).

All the social media platforms in Attest’s survey failed to chalk up growth in daily users over the last year—with TikTok being the singular exception. TikTok has increased daily users by 5 percentage points to 30%. Meanwhile, X and Facebook have both suffered small losses: daily usage of X has fallen by 4 percentage points to 16%, and by three percentage points to 52% for Facebook.

This move puts Facebook on a par with YouTube for daily users. But when Attest combines daily users with people who visit at least three times a week, the data finds that YouTube is striding ahead as the nation's most popular platform (71% versus Facebook’s 65%).

Looking at movement in the use of social platforms by different demographics, the data sees 18-to-30-year-olds are responsible for TikTok’s growth, with a 12 percentage-point increase in daily users among this age group (to 53%). This makes TikTok as popular as Instagram for the under 30s. BeReal, on the other hand, has fallen off the radar with only 2% of under-30s using it daily, and 82% never using it.

NEW YORK—Disney has landed on top of Nielsen's newly launched Media Distributor Gauge, which offers its first cross-platform view of total TV consumption across broadcast, cable and streaming and provides an aggregated view of TV consumption by media company. 

The new ranking, which removes the siloes of traditional television versus streaming, and puts all content distributors on a level playing field to allow for additional perspective of TV viewing, found that 14 media companies achieved a 1.0% or greater share of total TV usage. 

As the top performer in April, Disney accounted for 11.5% of TV viewing, with 42% of its share attributable to viewing on Disney+ and Hulu. 

YouTube was the No. 2 overall company with a 9.6% share of TV in April, followed by NBCUniversal at 8.9%, Paramount at 8.8%, and Warner Bros. Discovery at 8.1% to round out the top five. Netflix was sixth with 7.6% of TV, and the second-highest streaming distributor reported.

"With more programs available across platforms, it's vital for creators, advertisers and the industry at large to understand what and where audiences are watching," said Karthik Rao, CEO of Nielsen. "The Media Distributor Gauge is a perfect complement to the The Gauge and serves as the first convergent TV comparison of its kind. Together, these reports paint the most complete picture of TV viewing today, which is critical as we head into the Upfront."

This new insight is created by mapping all the various national media distributors — including broadcast and cable networks and streaming services — up to their parent company. 

Nielsen calculates the total minutes viewed on the TV screen for each network's services and aggregates those totals based on initial distributor mapping, ultimately arriving at a share of total TV usage for each parent company. The minimum reporting threshold for a parent company in The Media Distributor Gauge is a 1.0% share of TV. Similar to the fluctuation of monthly TV usage tracked in The Gauge, rankings within the media company view will also demonstrate shifts that correlate with the seasonality of TV viewing.

Nielsen is providing the new Media Distributor Gauge in addition to The Gauge: Nielsen's monthly snapshot of total TV usage in April 2024. 

The Gauge’s April data saw record-breaking viewership: the NCAA women's basketball tournament coverage on broadcast and cable, and Amazon Prime Video's new original series Fallout, which set a new high watermark for the streamer as its most successful program to date. From an overall usage perspective, time spent watching TV was fairly flat both month-over-month (down 2%) and on an annual basis (down 0.6%).

Cable was the only category in The Gauge to escape decline as it achieved a second consecutive monthly increase in share, moving up from 28.3% of TV in March to 29.1% (+0.8 pt.) in April. Cable sports viewing increased 28% vs. March, bolstered by NCAA basketball tournament coverage, NBA playoffs and the NFL draft. Women's NCAA basketball finals and semifinals coverage accounted for four of the top six cable telecasts in April, and the WNBA draft notched 17th. While cable viewing increased about 1% on a monthly basis, a year-over-year comparison shows viewing has declined 8.2% vs. April 2023, and its share has lost 2.4 points.

Broadcast viewing was down 3% in April, which equated to a 22.2% share of TV (-0.3 pt.). Similar to cable, women's sports were the bright spot in the broadcast category this month. The NCAA women's basketball championship game drew 17.6 million viewers on ABC (plus over 1 million more on ESPN), making it the top broadcast telecast in April by a large margin. The drama genre accounted for 29% of broadcast viewing, driven by Tracker, NCIS and Young Sheldon on CBS, and Chicago Fire and Chicago Med on NBC.

Streaming viewership declined 1.9% from March to April, prompting the category to lose just 0.1 share point to account for 38.4% of total television. Amazon Prime Video saw the largest increase among streaming services this month with a 12% monthly increase for 3.2% of TV (+0.4 pt.). Prime Video's April success was driven by its original series Fallout, which also topped all streaming titles this month with over 7 billion viewing minutes. YouTube, despite a 3% monthly decline in viewing, added a 15th month to its streak as the top streaming platform in The Gauge with a 9.6% share of TV in April.

LGBTQIA+ representation in TV content boosts viewership among young (18-34) Americans, according to a new report from Horowitz Research. 

The company’s ‘State of Media, Entertainment, and Tech: FOCUS LGBTQIA+’ report found that one in three (33%) of 18-34 year-olds surveyed are more likely to watch a show with LGBTQIA+ characters and stories in it. In addition, two in three (66%) LGBTQIA+ viewers are more likely to watch a show that is inclusive of LGBTQIA+ characters, along with features/stories that focus on their culture and communities.

“LGBTQIA+ stories and characters are inherently American stories and characters, and for content and advertising to realistically portray the American experience today, it needs to be inclusive of LGBTQIA+ experiences,” said Adriana Waterston, executive vice president, insights and strategy lead for Horowitz Research. “Today’s younger Americans are much more open and fluid when it comes to views on sexualities and gender identities, as we have learned in our recent research with #Seeher and as confirmed by a study by Pew Research. It will be important for media brands and advertisers to get comfortable with LGBTQIA+ inclusion, even if it means ruffling some feathers along the way, if they want to resonate with younger generations of Americans.”

To find LGBTQIA+ themed programming, more than half (52%) of LGBTQIA+ streamers search for collections and hubs that include LGBTQIA+ content, and use these hubs at least occasionally to find LGBTQIA+ content to watch. Netflix and Hulu are apparently seen as having the best selections of LGBTQIA+ content available. Nearly 4 in 10 (38%) younger streamers overall are said to find these same LGBTQIA+ hubs/collections useful as well.

Horowitz Research said that this openness to LGBTQIA+ visibility in entertainment content reflects a larger demand for content that represents general diversity in U.S. society. For instance, nearly half (46%) of American audiences aged 18-34 want to see characters with disabilities and/or bilingual characters in TV programs.

The Horowitz Research report said this openness to LGBTQIA+ inclusive content also extends to advertising. Based on their data, ads featuring diverse people, lifestyles, and cultures have a positive impact on brand perceptions for more than seven in ten (71%) LGBTQIA+ consumers and six in ten younger general audiences. Meanwhile, including LGBTQIA+ people in commercials resonates with seven in ten LGBTQIA+ consumers and almost half (46%) of younger consumers. Both segments are also reported to favor ads that tackle negative stereotypes about people of color and other marginalized groups.

NEW YORK—TV usage dropped by 3% in March compared to February and March Madness helped cable to gain a larger share of TV viewing but overall changes in TV usage were very similar to February, according to Nielsen’s The Gauge™ report for March 2024. 

While usage fell to some extent across each of the primary viewing categories in March, the report showed that cable viewing from February to March drove a 0.7-point bump in share, resulting in 28.3% of TV for cable. The cable category was lifted in part by sports, which was up 43% in March, driven largely by college basketball viewership. 

Nielsen also reported that games in the women's NCAA tournament had a more meaningful impact on viewership compared with previous years, with the Round 2 matchup between Iowa and West Virginia ranking as the No. 7 cable telecast in March with 4.9 million viewers on ESPN. 

Also giving cable a boost this month was State of the Union coverage on cable news networks. The March 7 event drew 32.2 million viewers in total (14.1 million on cable networks), and six of this month's top 10 cable telecasts were related to it. 

But viewed from a longer term perspective, year over year, the cable category saw a 10% decline in usage and it lost 2.8 share points.

The streaming category also exhibited minimal impact compared with last month, falling just 1% which resulted in a 38.5% share of TV (+0.8 percentage points) in March. YouTube ended the month with another record, accounting for 9.7% of total TV usage in March (+0.4 pt.) — the largest share for a streaming service to date in The Gauge. Meanwhile, Netflix climbed to 8.1% of TV (+0.3 pt.), boosted by three of this month's top streaming originals: Love is Blind, The Gentleman, and Avatar: The Last Airbender, which combined for nearly 15 million viewing minutes in the March interval.

Continuing a longer-term shift towards streaming, Nielsen reported that streaming viewership was up 12% this month versus one year ago, and the category has added 4.4 share points (vs. 34.1% in March 2023).

The broadcast category exhibited the largest decline across viewing categories in March, falling 6% vs. February to account for 22.5% of TV (-0.8 pt.). On a yearly basis, broadcast viewing has declined 4% and has lost 0.7 share point. 

Despite having or tying for the smallest share of TV in The Gauge since the report's inception, the broadcast category has shown notable resilience over time. When the report debuted in May 2021, broadcast sat at 25.4% of TV, while cable and streaming accounted for 39.5% and 26.2% of TV, respectively.

Almost 36 months later, the broadcast category has lost just 2.9 share points compared with 11.2 points given up by cable, and the streaming category has gained over 12 points. 

While the cable category has shown the largest decline over that time, the core businesses that make up the category may be shifting along with consumers. None of the now-reported FAST channel providers (PlutoTV, The Roku Channel and TubiTV) had yet exceeded the 1.0% reportability threshold at the time of the first report. Now those services combine for 3.7 share points, with a considerable portion of the titles being fueled by cable network content, the report found. 

NEW YORK—January TV viewing hit a four-year high in January, according to Nielsen's The Gauge, with Peacock’s exclusive streaming of a NFL playoff game playing a notable role in the viewing spike.  

Nielsen said that January 13 marked the most-streamed day in history totaling 40.8 billion minutes streamed—a feat driven by Peacock's coverage of the first exclusively streamed NFL playoff game.

Other key factors in driving increased TV viewing included an abundance of high-volume streaming days, NFL playoffs, colder temperatures, and the long-awaited return of scripted broadcast programs, Nielsen said. 

Broadcast viewing was up 7.1% in January, which bumped its share to 24.2% of total TV.

In addition to the record streaming levels seen on January 13, Nielsen noted that January produced nine of the 10 highest daily streaming levels ever. 

Yearly TV usage is typically at its peak in January, Nielsen noted, with January 2024 viewing up 3.7% versus December. 

Nielsen said this monthly increase stands out, as viewing levels were 1.4% higher than in January 2023, which not only had a longer reporting period (5 wks. vs. 4 wks.), but also included the peak viewing week between Christmas and New Year's, and was not in short supply of new programming.

Additionally, January 2024 included three of the top 10 days of TV usage since the inception of The Gauge in May 2021 (Jan. 1, 14 and 28), and marked the highest monthly TV usage total since January 2020 (excluding 2020 pandemic lockdown months).

In a month of many high-impact days, streaming usage was up 4.1% over December to account for 36.0% of TV usage. Peacock led platforms from a growth perspective with a 29% monthly increase, pushing its share to a platform-best 1.6% of TV. 

YouTube notched its 12th consecutive month as having the largest share among streaming services, with 8.6% of TV usage. From a content perspective, streaming original titles appeared to show signs of revival in January following a dominant year for acquired content in 2023: Netflix's “Fool Me Once” was the first original to top the streaming charts since May 2023, totaling 6.5 billion viewing minutes across the month, and Reacher on Prime Video held the No. 4 spot with 4.3 billion minutes.

Broadcast viewing also showed significant gains. It was up 7.1% in January, which bumped its share to 24.2% of total TV. Sports viewing had the greatest impact on the category, notching a 36% monthly viewing increase to account for 28% of all broadcast viewing. Broadcast drama viewing was up over 20% following some of the first new content releases of the season, led by new episodes across NBC's Chicago franchise.

Cable viewing increased 2.7% over December, but fell to 27.9% of TV due to the larger increase of overall TV usage. ESPN's broadcast of the College Football Playoff game between Michigan and Alabama led all cable programs this month, followed by six more NFL and college football games. News viewing was up 8% and topped all cable genres this month, led by the Iowa Town Hall on Fox News Channel (No. 8 cable program in January, excluding sports commentary).

Linear (live TV) streaming via MVPD (multichannel video programming distributors) and vMVPD (virtual multichannel video programming distributors) apps represented 6.2% of total television usage in January. Linear streaming is included in the appropriate broadcast or cable category, and is not included in the streaming category, Nielsen said. 

With so much buzz over streaming TV, social media and digital, it might be easy to lose sight of the true value of linear television broadcasting.

Despite the unquestionable growth of these platforms, television remains a vital source of news, entertainment and ad content.

The findings of a new TVB survey reveal broadcast television offers the broadest reach of any media platform and that people spend more time watching linear TV than other alternatives. Local TV news also is regarded as the most trusted source of news when compared to other platforms—even among streamers.

A total of 4,000 people responded to the survey, which was conducted by GfK for TVB. The goal was to find out how Americans of different age groups use different media, focusing on more than 20 traditional and digital platforms.

I spoke with Hadassa Gerber, chief research officer at TVB, about the survey and what the findings mean to broadcasters.

A summary of the 2024 Media Comparisons Study is available on the TVB website. 

(An edited transcript.)

TVTech: Your study finds that when it comes to reach and the time people spend with linear television stands head and shoulders above other media platforms, such as digital and social and streaming. At least based on personal viewing, watching broadcast TV and viewing streaming content aren’t mutually exclusive. What did your survey find?

Hadassa Gerber: They're not mutually exclusive, and we're not saying that people are not viewing streaming.

There are two different types of [ad-supported] streaming. There’s paid streaming with ads, and free streaming with ads, the AVOD [Ad-Supported Video on Demand] and FAST [Free Ad-Supported Television] platforms of the world. Then you have the other tier that doesn’t have ads. 

We show each one of those. We're not saying that those numbers or percentages [with regards to reach and time spent with other platforms] are 10%. They're not. They're in the 40% area. However, we show that these people do not view streaming in isolation. They're not just viewing streaming; they're also viewing broadcast television.

TVTech: You found for 18- to 34-year-olds, 25- to 50-year-olds and those over 35 as well as Hispanics and African Americans that TV has the greatest reach of all media platforms. Do you expect these numbers to change as the generation that's younger than 18 years old matures? Others have pointed out their propensity to consume media on smartphones and other digital platforms.

HG: First, let me just state that we said the reach was highest for 18- to 34-year-olds and 25 to 50. We didn’t say there were no differences in their usage even within 18- to 34-year-olds.

With 18- to 34-year-olds, did we see that there was a greater usage of digital? Absolutely, more so than 25 to 50. Certainly, more so than 35-plus. So, that was there, even for 18- to 34-year-olds. However—and this is something that the industry doesn't recognize—the highest reach and time spent was with television, specifically broadcast television.

So, were there differences in the age groups? Absolutely. Is the reach of television among the 18- to 34-year-old respondents lower than that of their older counterparts? Yes, but it's still higher than anything else that's out there.

TVTech: As people mature, do they gravitate back towards linear TV?

HG: We don't trend and follow people as they grow up. But we do look at the individual segments, and absolutely there's a greater usage of broadcast television as you age up. In fact, you see greater usage of even radio as you age up, which is ironic because once upon a time if you wanted to reach young adults you would use radio. Now, you use digital, and radio is older skewing, but it still doesn't come anywhere near television.

TVTech: The survey revealed local TV news wins when it comes to trustworthiness of alternatives and that it is the go-to source for local traffic, weather and sports when compared to other platforms like digital and social media. Do you have any thoughts about how broadcasters can better leverage this trustworthiness? Maybe pursuing hyperlocal news and advertising with NextGen TV or their own web presence?

HG: To your point, you said there's a lot of use of social media. Yes, people use a lot of social media, but we have seen this consistently on every survey that we have done: the lowest level of trust for news is in social media. So, people use it, but they don't necessarily trust it.

We're not saying they don't use social media. They do. But it's a race to the bottom actually in this survey between podcasts and social media for the least trusted. Social media just seeks it out as being less trusted.

Consistently, local broadcast TV news is the most trusted platform, and we found that even among those who stream that was also the finding. 

For local broadcast TV, it [trust in local TV news] remained the same whether they were a paid streamer [ a subscriber to] the Netflixes of the world that are taking ads or they were a free streamer with ads. It was the exact same percentage. Looking at each of those as their own universe, it was the same percentage that said they trusted local news, and it was No. 1.

TVTech: There have been decades of commercial zapping, but still you found that six out of 10 respondents said TV ads motivate them to research products further and in some categories that percentage was even higher. Among car shoppers, for instance, 72% said they start their shopping journey with TV.

Are you seeing local broadcasters doing anything to leverage the possible synergy between what their linear TV ad would be and some sort of digital presence whether it's on their website or something else like a knowledge base about cars or something like that?

HG: You hit on a good point and that's the fact that broadcast television assets are not only broadcast linear television. Broadcasters are also out there selling digital. In fact, one of the things that we found is if you take broadcast as a base, and you add on cable, that doesn't even add on a whole reach point. It rounds up to an added 0.8% reach point.

But if you take broadcast TV and broadcast websites, and add broadcast websites onto broadcast TV, your reach goes up 4%.

So, the two do work together and very well. It is not an either-or. It's an add on that works. The reason that we make it such a big point about television, motivating people to go online, is so many advertisers are just looking at the last click. Then they make their analysis based on the last click. Well, how did they get there in the first place? What drove the traffic there? Everyone has to recognize that there are other things that get them to go there and that they work together. You really need broadcast television to be able to do that.

TVTech: What other takeaways from the finding should broadcasters keep in mind?

HG: The main thing is when a new platform comes out—when digital and streaming come out—it has all of the buzz with the write ups. So, it's sometimes easy to forget the power and vitality of broadcast television.

Yes. All of these things are coming into play. But broadcast television—linear television—is really quite strong and has the reach. You have to remember that all these other options are so fragmented that it will be very difficult to get the audience reach you want if you don't use broadcast television.

NEW YORK—With Black History Month now well underway, Nielsen has released a new study of media usage by Black consumers in five countries that highlights the size and importance of their audience and their desire for better representation on TV. 

The study found that among U.S. audiences, Black consumers spend over 81 hours per week with media — 31.8% more than the general population, according to the latest Nielsen's Diverse Intelligence Series report, "The global Black audience: Shaping the future of media." 

The study also stressed that with record-setting engagement and influence, what Black audiences expect from media—and how they access it—is changing.

In the quest for representative content, 73% of Black American audiences pay for three or more streaming services. Black audiences also feel that they could be better represented in the advertising targeted towards them. In the United States alone, 67% of Black audiences agree that they wish they saw more representation of their identity group while watching TV. The demand is also high in other countries, based on Nielsen's research, which found that 43% of black consumers in five countries want better representation, the study found. 

The issue of representation also extends to advertising, as 35% of Black Americans believe brands portray Black people the same way and 66% of Black consumers are willing to cut ties with brands that devalue their community, the researchers reported. 

Nielsen's report also underscores the value and importance of building trust with Black audiences— not only because of their buying power, which is expected to top $2 trillion in the U.S. by 2026 —but also because Black-created and Black-inclusive content has become more influential than ever.

"Brands and programmers trying to connect with Black America have their work cut out for them to push beyond 'urban' and represent the spectrum of African American traditions as well as emerging nuance from the expanding Black immigrant and Black first-generation perspectives," said Charlene Polite Corley, vice president, diverse insights & partnerships, Nielsen. "When considering any kind of engagement with Black audiences, it's key to remember that Black culture is vast and expansive, and the global exchange of influence needs to be taken into account."

The report, covering Black audiences in the U.S., Brazil, Nigeria, U.K. and South Africa, examines the untapped power and influence Black people have on the media landscape. With the African and Caribbean-born Black population growth increasing in the United States (about one in five Black Americans are immigrants or children of Black immigrants), Black experiences with media are becoming more globalized, setting the stage for brands and programmers looking to engage with this diverse audience in a rapidly expanding media landscape.

Black people are engaging more than ever with media content from creators across the Black Diaspora, pointing to the increasing influence of the African continent on Black culture and media habits across the globe. On average, 57% of respondents across general audiences in the United States, Brazil, Nigeria, South Africa, and the United Kingdom agree. More than half of first-generation Black Americans say they're following a Black creator based outside of the U.S., and seven out of 10 Black respondents from the U.K. said they followed Black creators from other countries.

Other key findings in the report include:

• Black audiences are changing how they consume news and information. Black Millennials rely heavily on social media for access to news content — naming social media, YouTube and cable TV as top news sources in Nielsen's study.
• Black Millennials were more likely among all Black people and among Millennials overall to feel that local TV news isn't a reliable information source, pointing to a need to differentiate the value of local journalism and maintain trust.
• Black audiences are quickly embracing cable-free content viewing. As of September 2023, broadband-only (BBO) TV homes, which access TV content through an internet connection, had grown to account for nearly 44% of Black U.S. TV households — up from less than 13% back in 2019.
• While 3.2% of total TV usage is with free, ad-supported television (FAST) services like Tubi, Pluto TV and Roku Channel combined, Black viewers spend nearly 4% of their total TV time with Tubi alone.

For more details and insights, download the full report here.  

BALTIMORE—Sinclair Broadcast Group has announced that its Comet, Charge! and TBD free, over-the-air, national multicast networks continue to see rapid growth, delivering the highest viewership in the networks’ history, with double-digit ratings increases.

For the full year of 2023, among total viewers, the networks experienced unprecedented year over year growth, with Comet +17%, Charge! +37% and TBD +10%*. The trend continued in January 2024 with Comet +28%, Charge! +11% and TBD +7% compared to January 2023.

Comet, which features sci-fi and fantasy entertainment franchises, in addition to its total year ratings growth the network saw its highest quarter ever for total day in Q4 ’23, up 28% year-over-year.

“The results speak for themselves. Viewers are turning away from traditional cable TV networks and discovering new linear viewing alternatives on free, over-the-air multicast TV. As viewers move, advertisers follow, and we are excited to welcome top brands to Comet, Charge! and TBD,” said Adam Ware, senior vice president, Growth Networks Group. “We are bullish on the future of multicast TV and are continuing to invest in the sector, including adding more networks like The Nest, which has already delivered strong growth in just its first few months.”

Other key highlights include:

• Grimm, which launched on Comet in Jul ’23, has increased viewership among P25-54 each quarter. In Jan ’24 Grimm was up +39% from its premiere and +79% from last years’ time period.
• The X-Files increased +7% among total viewers for prime time and late fringe in Q4 2023 versus 2022.
• Comet’s recently launched Mega Movie Saturday franchise, a themed movie marathon airing each month, increased +42% among P25-54 versus the 2023 the time period average, reaching an average of over 1 million total viewers weekly.
• Charge! with a lineup of high-profile police procedural dramas, saw its highest prime time and late fringe ever among total viewers in November 2023, with December 2023 and January 2024 ranking as the second and third highest rated months respectively. Additionally, November 2023 was the network’s highest ratings ever for total day.
• Law & Order: Criminal Intent, which launched in Oct ’23, led Charge! to its highest quarter ever in Q4 ’23 with 100% increase year-over-year in primetime among P25-54
• Law & Order: Criminal Intent on Charge! has continued to increase from its premiere, up +14% among P25-54 and +31% among W25-54 in Jan ’24
• TBD., the free TV home of big stars and big comedy, with a lineup of ground-breaking, funny franchises, increased +29% in 2023 for total viewers in daytime and delivered its highest rated month ever (Jan ’24) among all viewers.
• The TBD launches of Whose Line Is It Anyway?, Key & Peele, and Punk’d in Dec ’23 led to an increase of + 80% among P25-54 and another +17% increase in Jan ’24.
• Whose Line Is It Anyway? is the network’s highest rated program ever, comprising 7 out of TBD’s top 10 telecasts ever, with its highest averaging 75,000 P25-54.
• The Growth Networks Group continued to secure distribution upgrades throughout 2023 and into 2024, through new affiliations with major broadcast groups including the CBS stations (Comet in New York on WCBS channel 2.5 and in San Francisco on KPIX channel 5.5; Charge! in Los Angeles on KCAL channel 9.3, in Chicago on WBBM channel 2.5 and in Philadelphia on KYW channel 3.5.)

TVB has released a new study of media habits that shows broadcast and cable outlets still dominate consumer viewing, with the widest reach of any media studied (81%) and large amounts of viewing each day (5 hours and 27 minutes.)

The study also found that local TV news remains the most popular and most trusted source of news. 

The TVB research indicated that local TV is the primary source for local traffic, weather, and sports, with 29% of respondents citing local broadcast TV news as their primary source. The next highest news sources were all other internet news websites and apps and social media at 11% each. 

Local TV is also the most trusted: people trust local broadcast TV news more than all other media platforms (74%); social media is the least trusted (40%). 

The viewing time of 5 hours and 37 minutes for broadcast and cable notably outpaced all other media, with 3:46 (hours:minutes) spent each day with broadcast content and 1:51 for cable TV. 

Adults 18-34, 25-54 and 35+, as well as Hispanics and African Americans, spent the most time with TV than any other media platform measured, the TVB said. 

The TVB data breaks down streaming into various categories. Free streaming programs with ads accounted for 1:09 and paid streaming programs with ads accounted for 1:01 of viewing each day. However, if viewing of all the various streaming categories were added together from the TVB chart, they total 5:53, more than TV and cable combined. 

The report stressed, however, that "broadcast and streaming is not an either/or decision, it's an and."

The study found that 88% of the time spent viewing TV & movie programming was done on the TV set, while only 12% of viewing was done on a mobile device. In terms of linear TV among adults 18+, about 71% of time spent is on programs/movies that have ads. Broadcast programs also dominate programming rankings, accounting for 10 of the top 10, 43 out of the top 50 episodes). The streaming episodes that made the cut are on services where most subscribers opt not to have ads. 

Broadcast  reaches 94% of those that view paid ad-supported streaming programs and 95% of those that view free ad-supported streaming programs on a TV, the study found. 

Finally, TV is multiplatform: broadcast TV platforms, including websites/apps, reach 90% of viewers who use non-ad supported streaming services, the TVB said. 

The study also marshaled data showing the effectiveness of ads. About 60% of respondents said that television ads are motivation to do further research online. Those numbers increase dramatically for car buyers (72%), home remodelers (71%), and legal service recipients (68%). 

66% of car buyers and 63% of online grocery shoppers said that they read or watched local broadcast TV station content on a social media site. 

More information is available here. 

PORTSMOUTH, N.H.—Gen Z media consumption and viewing habits not only has diverged from other generations. They also appear in some respects to be setting the trend for other age groups, particularly when it comes to how they spend time watching, according to the latest annual survey released today from Hub. 

The survey, “Video Redefined,” found Gen Z devotes as much time gaming, on social media sites and viewing non-premium video as they do watching traditional TV and films. Helping to propel this trend among Gen Z is the popularity smartphones, making its members “the first native smartphone generation,” which Hub dubbed “entertainment omnivores.”

The proportion of entertainment time Gen Z spent viewing TV is less than half that of viewers over 35. Time spent gaming, watching non-premium video and on social media is on par with TV and movies among Gen Z, the survey said.

They are not alone, however. A third of older viewers surveyed said the time they are spending consuming non-premium video cuts into the time they spend watching “regular TV.” Gen Z respondents said they watch non-premium video about two hours each day, compared to those 35 and older who watch more than two hours per week—small by comparison, but up significantly from the previous year, it found.

Older respondents are turning to alternative platforms to stay up to date on the news and other topics of current interest, it said.

Among Gen Z members, Snapchat, TikTok and Instagram were especially popular compared to the preferences of those over 35 years old. Twice as many Gen Z members use Instagram and TikTok to watch video, and three times as many use Snapchat when compared to older respondents. Eighty percent of all respondents reported viewing YouTube in a given week, the survey said.

All respondents who use social media platforms recognized that each delivers different benefits. For instance, TikTok was valued for delivering short, trendy entertainment, and YouTube was recognized for its extensive library and a platform that offers informative content, it found.

“There’s no doubt that younger viewers are not as devoted to traditional TV and movies as previous generations have been. This presents one more challenge to legacy media companies as they navigate the future of the video ecosystem,” said Mark Loughney, senior consultant for Hub. “It would be futile for them to try to claw back time from non-traditional platforms, so instead media companies should look to social media as opportunities to reach Gen Z with premium content.”

The survey was conducted in December 2023. Hub polled 1,900 U.S. consumers, age 13 to 74, with broadband service.

More information is available on the company’s website.

A new survey calls into question the widely-held perception that younger Gen Z consumers are abandoning longer-form TV content for short-form videos, social media, streaming music and video games. 

Horowitz Research’s latest FOCUS Generation Next study, which tracks the media lifestyles of Gen Z consumers in the U.S., found that while Gen Zers (13-24 year-olds) report spending most of their time with social media, short videos, streaming music, and video games, a large majority are still heavily engaged with professional, full-length TV content.

In fact, the study finds that Gen Z audiences are almost as likely to be viewers of professionally produced TV content as they are non-TV content (e.g., short clips, user-generated content, video game live streams, videos on social media, etc.). Eight in ten Gen Zers report watching short-form videos weekly, while seven in 10 say that they watch TV content every week. The data are similar for both older (18-24 year-old) and younger (13-17 year-old) Gen Zers, the study found. 

“Gen Z are most certainly engaged in long-form content almost as much as they are in short-form. What is interesting to us is thinking about how they might bring their short-form behaviors to the big screen and to their expectations when viewing long-form content and what that might mean from a content development, user experience, and revenue perspective,” noted Adriana Waterston, executive vice president and insights and strategy lead for Horowitz Research. “Moreover, now that the writers’ and actors’ strikes are over, we are excited to see how these younger audiences will take to some of the new content on the horizon, much of which is designed to appeal to them.”

As might be expected among Gen Z, this TV viewing is not just happening on TV screens and that mobile plays a very important role in their viewing habits, the researchers stressed. 

More than half of Gen Zers say they typically watch professionally produced, long-form TV content on their TV sets, while over a third say they typically consume TV content on their smartphones. 

While the smartphone is the device most typically used among 65% of Gen Zers to watch non-TV content, nearly two in 10 Gen Zers report that they typically watch non-TV/short-form content on their TVs, with older Gen Zers more likely to do so than younger Gen Zers, the Horowitz survey found.

This suggests that there are opportunities for media brands, digital publishers, and advertisers to engender small-screen behaviors on the big screen, such as sharing/socializing content and v-commerce, the researchers said. 

To access TV content that appeals to them, Gen Z streamers use an average of 6.1 streaming services, up from 5.0 in 2020. Usage of FAST services among Gen Zers is on the rise, with the Roku Channel, Tubi, and Pluto TV being the most popular FAST services among this demographic.

The most popular TV content genres among Gen Z viewers include movies, animated series/cartoons (not anime), dramas, and music-related content, with older Gen Zers reporting higher viewership across most of these genres than younger Gen Zers.

To learn more about the findings from the new FOCUS Generation Next report, register for the webinar, The “Tea” on Gen Z, on Thursday, January 25, at 12 p.m. ET. Registration is available here.  

NEW YORK—The Holidays season once again boosted TV viewing in the U.S., with television viewing levels in December surpassing November levels by nearly 2%, making December 2023's second-highest month for TV viewing behind January, according to the latest report of The Gauge, Nielsen's monthly snapshot of total broadcast, cable and streaming consumption that occurs via television.

December also saw five days recording over 100 billion TV viewing minutes, including the second-highest daily total in 2023 occurring on December 31 (behind Super Bowl Sunday on February 12) with over 105 billion minutes. 

While all but the broadcast category showed monthly increases in usage, the "other* category" was the only to gain in share in December (+1.8 pts.), partly driven by increased video game console usage among younger demographics.

Following four consecutive months of growth (August through November), broadcast viewing decreased 4.3% from November, which brought the category to a 23.5% share of TV usage (-1.5 pts.). Decreased usage was led by viewers 25-34 who watched 13% less broadcast programming versus November. Sports remained the most-watched broadcast genre, accounting for 28.5% of broadcast viewing, with NFL games accounting for 12 of the top 13 broadcast telecasts during the month. ABC's New Year's Rockin' Eve took the 13th spot.

Cable viewing climbed another 1.3% this month, but due to the larger increase of overall TV usage, cable gave up 0.1 share point to finish at 28.2% of total TV usage. Cable sports viewing was up 8.4% versus November, led by both NCAA bowl games and NFL programming. The top telecast went to ESPN's NFL matchup between the Detroit Lions and the Dallas Cowboys on December 30, which totaled over 11 million viewers. Feature film viewing nearly tripled that of sports, however, accounting for 21.4% of cable usage compared with 8.1% for sports.

Streaming usage increased 1.2% in December, but like cable, it was not enough to maintain its share and the category fell to 35.9% of overall TV usage (-0.2 pt.). The streaming increase was led by 18-24 year-old viewers, whose usage was up 2.7%. 

Additional streaming platform and content highlights in December include:

• Netflix viewership climbed nearly 6% to account for 7.7% of TV usage (+0.3 pt.).
• Tubi exhibited a 6.6% bump in viewing to maintain 1.4% of TV usage.
• YouTube's share of TV fell to 8.5% (-0.4 pt.) following a 3.4% drop in usage, but it maintained the top spot among streaming platforms.
• Netflix's usage increase was partially driven by this month's top two streaming titles: Young Sheldon (also hosted on Max) was the #1 most-streamed title with 6.7 billion viewing minutes, and Leave the World Behind claimed #2 with 4.5 billion minutes.
• Linear (live TV) streaming via MVPD (multichannel video programming distributors) and vMVPD (virtual multichannel video programming distributors) apps represented 6% of total television usage in December. Linear streaming is included in the appropriate broadcast or cable category, and is not included in the streaming category.

NEW YORK—Broadcasters share of total TV viewing grew again in November as total TV viewing surged to the highest levels recorded since January 2023, according to Nielsen's latest report of The Gauge. the media measurement company's monthly snapshot of total broadcast, cable and streaming consumption that occurs via television. 

Overall TV usage in November was up 5.7% compared with October, primarily driven by the week of Thanksgiving (11/20/23 - 11/26/23), when viewing levels peaked and measured over 14% higher than the previous month, Nielsen said. 

November marked a fourth consecutive month of growth for broadcast, as the category added 0.3 points to tie its highest share of 2023 (January) with 24.9% of overall TV usage. Month-over-month, broadcast usage was up 7% in November, largely propelled by the week of Thanksgiving when usage jumped 18.4%.

Sports was another important driver of the growth in broadcast viewing. Broadcast sports viewership was 21% higher in November versus October as sports accounted for one-third (33%) of all broadcast consumption. While overall broadcast usage decreased 5.3% (-0.8 pts.) on a yearly basis, viewership to broadcast sports was up 2.8% compared with 2022.

Meanwhile cable viewing increased by 1.3% in November and the category gave up 1.2 share points to finish the month at a category-low 28.3% of TV viewing. 

The feature film genre demonstrated typical seasonal lifts (+26%) and accounted for the largest portion of cable consumption at 19%. Cable news viewing slipped slightly (-0.6% vs. October) and finished at 18.4% of all cable usage, while monthly sports viewership dropped 16%.

Cable usage in November was 13% lower than 2022 levels, and the category has lost 3.5 share points on a year-over-year basis.

Streaming saw a 4.3% increase in streaming usage in November, but its overall share of TV consumption fell by 0.5 share points, bringing it to 36.1% of TV. Similar to broadcast, streaming usage peaked during the holiday week when viewing jumped over 10% compared with October levels.

Streaming platform and content highlights include:

• Peacock represented the largest usage increase, with a 23% increase in viewing (+0.2 pts.) that was driven largely by football coverage and the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, leading it to a platform-high 1.3% of TV.
• Netflix exhibited an 8.6% increase in usage and added 0.2 share points, finishing the month at 7.4% of TV usage. The Netflix limited series, All the Light We Cannot See, was the only original title ranked among the top 10 streaming programs in November, with 2.1 billion viewing minutes.
• TubiTV viewership was up 8.3% in November to notch a platform-best 1.4% of TV usage.
• Bluey on Disney+ claimed the top streaming title with 3.8 billion viewing minutes, followed by Grey's Anatomy (3.7B) on Netflix, Suits (3.3B) on Netflix and Peacock, and Friends (3.0B) on Max.
• Linear (live TV) streaming via MVPD (multichannel video programming distributors) and vMVPD (virtual multichannel video programming distributors) apps represented 6.4% of total television usage in October. Linear streaming is included in the appropriate broadcast or cable category, and is not included in the streaming category.

NEW YORK—Broadcast gained audience share in September for the second month in a row, boosted by an explosive month of viewership in the sports genre, according to Nielsen's September 2023 report of The Gauge, the media measurement company's monthly snapshot of total broadcast, cable and streaming consumption that occurs via television.

In September, broadcast viewing volume was up by nearly 13% overall, and by more than 30% in both the 18-49 and 25-54 demographics. This sizable increase in the amount of viewing led to an increase of 2.5 audience share points, which allowed broadcast to finish at 23.0% of total TV usage. 

More specifically, the broadcast sports genre experienced massive growth (+360%) amid the start of NFL and college football seasons. By comparison, the sports genre saw a 222% increase in viewership over the same period in 2022.

Cable also felt a positive impact from sports viewership, exhibiting a 25.5% increase in the sports genre in September. ESPN carried the top 11 cable telecasts this month—10 of the 11 were football-related, and the U.S. Open took ninth place. Overall, cable viewing in September fell slightly (-1.1%) from August, and the category lost 0.4 share points to represent 29.8% of TV usage.

Streaming viewership declined for the second consecutive month (-1.7%), and the category lost more than half a share point to represent 37.5% of total TV usage in September, Nielsen reported. 

There were a few bright spots for the category, however, including Amazon Prime Video, which saw the largest increase in viewership among streaming platforms (+7.5%) driven by the two NFL Thursday Night Football broadcasts, as well as the second season of The Wheel of Time. This month's TNF broadcast dates also represented Prime Video's highest viewing days in September, and the streamer reached a personal best 3.6% share of television.

In addition to Prime Video, Tubi and The Roku Channel were the only other streaming platforms to exhibit growth in viewership vs. August (up 4.3% and 1.4%, respectively). Their audience share, however, remained the same. 

Despite hosting September's top three streaming titles, which accounted for a combined 18 billion viewing minutes (Suits, shared with Peacock, Virgin River and One Piece), Netflix viewership declined around 5% and it lost 0.4 share points. 

Paramount+ and Peacock also declined in the 5% range, while Disney+ usage was much flatter by comparison (-1.6%), due in part to the 11.3 billion viewing minutes accumulated by Bluey, Ahsoka, Elemental and The Little Mermaid (2023).

Linear (live TV) streaming via MVPD (multichannel video programming distributors) and vMVPD (virtual multichannel video programming distributors) apps represented 5.7% of total television usage in September, the highest total to date this year. Linear streaming is included in the appropriate broadcast or cable category, and is not included in the streaming category.

NEW YORK—After dipping to record lows in August, traditional TV viewership gained ground in August, as broadcast and cable each bounced back to combine for 50.6% of total TV usage, according to Nielsen's August 2023 report of The Gauge. 

Meanwhile streaming fell to 38.3% of total TV usage, but remained the largest share of television for the month. Since the August 2022 report of The Gauge, streaming has gained 7.0 share points, growing from 31.3% to 38.3% of total TV usage.

In July, Nielsen’s The Gauge reported that U.S. broadcast and cable TV fell below 50% of total TV viewing for the first time since the company began tracking streaming services in the fall of 2020.

Broadcast viewership in August increased 1.6% compared with July, and its share of total usage was up 0.4 points to 20.4% of TV viewing. This is the first gain recorded in the broadcast category since January 2023, the researchers said. 

Broadcast benefited from increased viewing in the "participation variety" (e.g., "America's Got Talent" on NBC) and "general variety" (e.g., "Big Brother" on CBS) genres, but drama and news were the most-watched broadcast genres in August, accounting for 16.9% and 24.8% of the category, respectively.

Cable recorded the largest monthly increase across all categories in The Gauge in August. Cable viewing was up 1.7% compared with July, and the category gained more than half a share point (+0.6 pts.), the researchers said. 

Increased cable usage was driven by a 21.6% lift in cable sports viewing, primarily due to NFL preseason events, as well as an 18% lift in cable news viewing, primarily due to the first presidential debate. About 85% of the overall increase in cable viewing was driven by viewers aged 65 and older, Nielsen reported. 

On a year-over-year basis, broadcast viewing in August was down 5.5% (-1.7 share points of total TV usage), and cable viewing was down 10.6% (-4.3 share points).

Streaming, which disproportionately felt the back-to-school impact, fell 1.6% in August vs. July, and the category lost almost half a share point to finish at 38.3% of total TV usage. Approximately 80% of this decline involves viewers aged 2-17. This drop also took back the bump in viewing share that this group provided at the beginning of the summer, Nielsen reported. 

Peacock recorded the largest increase among streamers in August, with usage rising 8.3% as a result of events like WWE SummerSlam, shared coverage of the NFL Hall of Fame Game, and the success of The Super Mario Brothers Movie. Riding on the continued strength of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds", and its new original series "Special Ops: Lioness", Paramount+ was up 4.2% vs. July to finish at 1.1% of total TV usage (a high watermark for the platform).

"Suits", which streams on both Netflix and Peacock, remained the top streaming title in August with 11.7 billion minutes viewed, followed by the Netflix original series "The Lincoln Lawyer" at 4.5 billion minutes. Despite the drop in streaming usage among viewers under 18, Disney+ had the third- and fourth-most-watched streaming titles in August with Bluey at 4.2 billion minutes and "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" at 3.2 billion minutes.

‍SAN FRANCISCO—A new analysis from Samba TV has found that cast diversity is a key factor in deciding what to watch and that some groups, notably Hispanic and Asian audiences, are underrepresented in the top 50 TV programs in the U.S. 

Samba TV’s newly released "State of Diversity on TV" report found that over half of people say that they are more likely to watch TV where they see themselves represented. 

The vast majority (90%) of Black audiences say that having diverse representation is important to them when choosing what content to watch. In addition, 80% of Hispanic people said diverse content is important when choosing what to watch.

“The data shows that greater on-screen representation will tend to increase viewership overall and among diverse populations,” said Samba TV CEO and co-founder Ashwin Navin. “Audiences are deeply connected to what they watch on TV. Although we live in the golden age of content, diversity on-screen still does not adequately represent the population in all its identities.”

The analysis encompassed programs released on streaming and traditional linear television, based on the top 25 highest-reaching direct-to-streaming and top 25 highest-reaching linear TV premiere episodes released between January and May. Insights into representation were sourced from the cast composition of top-billed actors and actresses throughout each program. 

Based on that analysis, Samba TV is reporting that within the top 50 TV shows, 42% of top-billed actors were Hispanic, Black, Asian, or another ethnicity such as mixed, while 58% were white.

The report found a positive correlation of 43% among households with Black, Hispanic, Asian, mixed race, or another non-white ethnicity watching programs with higher percentages of non-white stars. The correlation indicates that cast diversity is a selling point among diverse households.

Black households saw the strongest correlation with watching shows with Black leads, with a positive correlation of 67% among Black households watching programs with a higher percentage of Black leads. 

But the new report also found that Hispanic representation is far below the U.S. Census levels and is lacking across both linear television and streaming. 

Despite making up almost 20% of the U.S., Hispanic actors are underrepresented on TV. Across both linear and streaming, only 10% of lead actors were Hispanic, despite Hispanic people comprising 18% of the U.S. census, Samba TV reported. 

In fact, none of the top 50 shows featured a majority Hispanic cast, compared to multiple shows featuring majority white, Black, and Asian leads, the researchers said. 

In addition, less than half of the top 50 programs featured Hispanic or Asian leads.

The lack of representation standings in stark contrast to the survey results finding that 80% of Hispanic people said diverse content is important when choosing what to watch. That finding highlighted how content creators and advertisers would benefit from diversifying casts to include Hispanic representation, the report concluded. 

Other key findings included: 

• Linear programming reaches Black audiences with Black representation. More than 1 in 4 of the lead actors among the top linear shows was Black, and that representation paid off for those shows from a viewership standpoint. Multiple shows with a majority Black leading cast over-indexed in the triple digits based on Black household viewership, including "BMF", "Snowfall", and "Power Book II: Ghost". The vast majority (90%) of Black audiences say that having diverse representation is important to them when choosing what content to watch.
• Studios should look to increase representation, particularly with Asian and Hispanic audiences. 
• With more and more of the U.S. identifying as ethnicities other than white, studios will fail to drive interest in new programs if they do not adequately reflect the population. 
• Streamers like Netflix are leaning into diverse representation in their content. Notably, the most diverse streaming shows were all Netflix originals.

 The full report is available here. 

NEW YORK—New data from Nielsen’s The Gauge shows that May was a good month for streaming, with streaming growing its market share by 2.5 share points to a 36.4% share of time spent watching TV in May as overall TV viewing declined for the fourth straight month. 

Viewing declines are typical this time of year, Nielsen said. Total TV usage in the U.S. fell in May 4.4% from April. In May, time spent watching TV declined 2.7% compared to May of 2022.

Nielsen’s The Gauge, which offers a monthly snapshot of total broadcast, cable and streaming consumption that occurs via television, also found that 31.1% of TV viewing was spent watching cable content, and 22.8% with broadcast content. On a year-over-year basis, broadcast viewing was down 5.6% (-1.7 share points), and cable viewing was down 13.7% (-5.4 share points).

Nielsen said that a technical enhancement in the way it calculates viewing was a factor in the monthly uptick but that approximately half of the increase was a reflection of viewing behavior alone.

Nielsen also reported data for the Roku Channel for the first time. Representing 1.1% of TV usage in May, the Roku Channel is the latest streaming service, and third free ad-supported television (FAST) service, to get enough viewers to be included in The Gauge's coverage. 

Combined, the three FAST services that are independently reported in The Gauge (Pluto TV, Tubi TV, Roku Channel) are each comparable in usage to Peacock and HBO Max, and in aggregate, accounted for 3.3% of TV time this month, Nielsen said. 

In terms of other streaming services, Nielsen reported that Netflix and Amazon Prime Video each gained momentum in May, posting usage gains of 9.2% (+1.0 share points) and 5.1% (+0.3 share points), respectively. 

Roughly half of Netflix's increase was due to the technical enhancement, coupled with the fact that the top three streaming titles this month were Netflix Originals, including "Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story" (5.4 billion viewing minutes), "A Man Called Otto" (3.1 billion) and "The Mother" (3.0 billion). 

Prime Video benefited from the strength of its original series "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" and "Citadel", which combined for 2.7 billion viewing minutes. YouTube maintained its stance as the top streaming platform for the fourth consecutive month, gaining 0.4 share points in May (0.9% usage increase) to account for 8.5% of TV viewing.

Viewing via MVPD (multichannel video programming distributor) and vMVPD (virtual multichannel video programming distributor) streaming apps represented 5.5% of total television use in May, including 1.3% attributed to YouTube TV, and 0.4% to Hulu Live. Compared with May 2022, overall streaming consumption has increased by more than 30%, and streaming's share of TV has risen 8.2 share points.

Broadcast and cable viewing each fell 5.5% and 5.4%, respectively, in May versus April, and each surrendered 0.3 share points, Nielsen said. 

Broadcast sports viewing was down 25% in May compared with April, and the genre represented 7.9% of broadcast's 22.8% share. However, the Kentucky Derby still secured the top broadcast program for the month, drawing 14.5 million viewers. 

By contrast, cable sports viewership rose 12% in May. The increase was driven by the extensive coverage of the NBA Finals on ESPN and TNT, which also accounted for the top four cable programs this month. Additionally, despite the traction that the May 10 CNN Town Hall generated, cable news viewing fell more than 11% from April.

NEW YORK—Overall TV viewing declined in April but an upswing in cable news viewing increased cable’s share of the TV audience for the second straight month, according to Nielsen's April 2023 report of The Gauge, a monthly snapshot of total broadcast, cable and streaming consumption that occurs through a television.

This gain for cable also represents the first back-to-back share increase for the category since the inception of The Gauge in May 2021. Both streaming and broadcast lost viewing share while streaming retained the largest share of total TV viewing.  

With a decrease of 1.9% from March to April, total TV usage in the U.S. declined for the third consecutive month, a trend that is typical as the summer months approach. By comparison, time spent watching TV declined 2.1% over the same period in 2022, Nielsen reported. 

The cable category exhibited the smallest dip in viewing across all categories in The Gauge this month, decreasing 0.6% vs. March, and was able to gain 0.4 share points to account for 31.5% of total TV viewing in April. Cable news viewing increased 4.3% from March to April and accounted for the largest portion of cable viewing (19%). 

Even so, time spent watching cable content was down 12.0% in April 2023 compared to a year earlier and the category has lost 5.3 share points in the last year. 

At 23.1% share of total TV, broadcast viewing was down 2.7% in April and the category lost 0.2 share points on the month. The completion of the NCAA basketball tournament, and The Masters golf tournament, were the most-watched broadcast programs in April, but broadcast sports viewing overall dipped 17.1% vs. March to account for 9.6% of the category. The general drama genre increased 2.1% in April, driven by titles like NCIS, Blue Bloods and Chicago Fire. From a year-over-year perspective, broadcast viewership was down 3.7%, and the category has lost 1.6 share points, Nielsen reported. 

Time spent with streaming content was down 2.1% in April compared with March, and the streaming category recorded a loss in share (-0.1 pts.) for the second consecutive month. However, streaming still concluded the month with the largest share of TV at 34.0%.

Offsetting April's dip in streaming consumption were the FAST (free ad-supported TV) offerings of Tubi TV and Pluto TV. Tubi TV usage was up 6% from March, and the platform added 0.1 share point to capture 1.1% of overall TV, and Pluto TV viewing increased 3.9% on the month to stay at 0.8% of TV. In March 2023, Pluto TV exhibited the largest increase in usage across all streaming platforms at 4.6%. 

Additional streaming highlights include:

• Time spent watching YouTube (excluding YouTube TV) on television increased 1.5% in April, which led to a gain of 0.3 share points and upheld YouTube as the most-watched streaming platform at 8.1% of overall TV usage.
• Despite having the two most-watched streaming titles in April ("The Night Agent" and "Love is Blind"), Netflix was down 7% in usage vs. March and lost 0.4 share points to finish at 6.9% of total TV.
• Disney+ was down 1.7% in usage but retained its 1.8% share of television on the strength of "The Mandalorian", which was the third most-watched streaming title in April.
• Viewing via MVPD (multichannel video programming distributor) and vMVPD (virtual multichannel video programming distributor) streaming apps represented 5.4%* of total television use in April, including 1.2% attributed to YouTube TV, and 0.4% to Hulu Live.

NEW YORK—Overall television usage in the U.S. declined for a second straight month, but cable viewing was boosted by the onset of the NCAA basketball playoffs, making cable the only TV format to exhibit growth from February to March, according to Nielsen's March 2023 report of The Gauge, a monthly visualization of total TV and streaming consumption.

On the whole, TV viewing trends in March were in line with seasonal trends, with total TV usage down 2% from February 2023. By comparison, total TV usage declined 4.6% over the same period in 2022, Nielsen said. 

Similar to trends in The Gauge from March 2022, cable was the only category to gain in viewership (+0.6%) and share (+0.8 pts.) this month, finishing at 31.1% share of television. This was not only the largest monthly increase for the cable category since last year's March Madness tournament, but also the first time since August 2022 that cable viewing demonstrated any monthly uptick, Nielsen reported.  

Compared with the same period one year ago, however, cable viewing was down 13.7% in March 2023 and the category has lost 5.9 share points, Nielsen reported. 

At 23.3% share of total TV, broadcast viewing was down 4.4% in March and the category lost 0.6 share points versus February. 

For broadcasters, viewing of the general drama genre increased slightly this month and accounted for 30.5% (largest) of broadcast viewing. Meanwhile, The Oscars drove a 153% increase in the award/ceremonies genre to account for 1.1% of viewing to the broadcast category. 

Compared with March 2022, broadcast viewing has dropped 4.0% and its share of television is down 1.6 share points, Nielsen said.

Viewership of streaming content was down 2.6% in March compared with February, and the streaming category saw its first loss in share (-0.2 pts.) since August 2022, but still finished the month with the largest share of TV at 34.1%. Despite the monthly downturn, however, streaming usage has increased by over a third compared with March 2022.

Across streaming platforms in March, Pluto TV and Peacock showed notable increases. Pluto TV saw the largest increase in usage at 4.6%, which pushed its share to 0.8% of TV. Peacock usage climbed 3.1% to notch a platform-high 1.1% of total TV usage.

Additional streaming highlights included:

• Netflix accounted for 7.3% of total TV usage in March (flat vs. February) as viewers watched more than 4.7 billion minutes of Outer Banks, the most of any streaming program this month, as well as nearly 3.6 billion minutes of You.
• Disney+ was also flat compared with February, accounting for 1.8% of TV viewing, and its new season of The Mandalorian notched over 3.6 billion viewing minutes, making it the second most-streamed program in March.
• YouTube, excluding YouTube TV, remained the most-used streaming platform in March with 7.8% of total TV usage.

NEW YORK—Time spent watching TV fell 5.1% from January to February, as often happens this time of year after the end of the NFL football season, according to The Gauge, Nielsen's monthly visualization of total TV and streaming consumption in the U.S.

This year’s decline for February was nearly the same as the 5.7% decline observed over the same period in 2022. While usage fell across each of the primary TV formats this month, streaming was least impacted and decreased less than 1% versus January, while viewing to broadcast fell by 9.2% and cable content saw viewing decline by 5.7%. 

As a result of declining viewing, the streaming category was the only sector to exhibit any growth in share (+1.5 pts.) versus January to finish the month at 34.3% share of overall TV usage, a record, Nielsen reported. 

Among the streaming platform highlights this month, Tubi TV achieved a 1.0% share of total TV for the first time in February, making it the 9th streaming platform to reach this threshold and thus be broken out in The Gauge. YouTube (not including YouTube TV) accounted for nearly 8% of overall TV usage in February and captured the largest share among streaming platforms in The Gauge.

The 9.2% monthly decline in viewing to broadcast content in February was driven by a nearly 65% drop in broadcast sports viewing due to the conclusion of the NFL season, and contributed to a loss of 1.1 share points for the category. Compared with February 2022, broadcast content viewing was down about 8%, and the category lost 2.2 share points.

Cable viewing decreased 5.7% versus January, which led to a loss of 0.2 share points to end the month with a 30.2% share of TV. Cable sports viewing declined over 34% in February despite events like the NFL Pro Bowl and NBA All Star Game. Cable news viewing rose slightly (2.4%) versus January, driven by activity around the State of the Union Address, and the genre remains the most-watched of the category, making up 18.6% of cable. On a year-over-year basis, time spent watching cable content declined 14.1% and the category has lost 5.1 share points, Nielsen said. 

NEW YORK—In what researchers are calling an inflection point in the time Americans’ spend viewing video, a new forecast from Insider Intelligence is predicting that for the first time, U.S. adults will spend more time watching digital video than traditional linear TV, according to the latest time spent forecast from Insider Intelligence.

In 2022, digital video time among US adults nearly caught up to TV time. U.S. adults spent an average of 3 hours and 2 minutes per day watching digital video and 3 hours and 7 minutes watching linear TV. Except for a slight uptick in 2020, daily TV time has declined every year since 2013, and it will continue to drop through 2024, the researchers said. 

Conversely, digital video time saw double-digit growth every year between 2011 and 2021. Growth slowed to single digits in 2022 but will remain positive through 2024, Insider Intelligence is predicting. 

This year, Insider Intelligence is forecasting that U.S. adults’ daily TV time will drop to 2 hours and 55 minutes, while digital video time will climb to 3 hours and 11 minutes. Linear TV will now represent 47.7% of total time spent with TV and digital video per day (the first time it’s dropped below 50%), while digital video will make up 52.3%.

The researchers noted that TikTok is driving social video consumption and they are predicting that TikTok's total viewing time will surpass Facebook in 2024

The researchers have defined traditional linear TV as any type of video content delivered via cable, satellite, telecom, or over-the-air antenna; they define digital video as video viewed via over-the-top or connected streaming services, as well as video viewed on social media, including YouTube.

“This milestone is driven by people spending more and more time watching video on their biggest and smallest screens, whether it’s an immersive drama on a connected TV or a viral clip on a smartphone,” said Paul Verna, principal analyst and head of the digital advertising and media desk at Insider Intelligence. “The growth of digital video is especially impressive when you consider that, as recently as four years ago, it accounted for roughly half of TV time. And bear in mind that our time spent forecasts are for adults only. Given teens’ preferences for social and streaming video over TV, we can expect these trends to continue to shift in favor of digital.”

Live sports shifting to streaming services is one reason why digital video consumption is surpassing TV. YouTube won the NFL Sunday Ticket at the end of last year, stealing Sunday evening football games away from DirecTV. Also, MLB sold the streaming rights to Friday night games to Apple TV+ and Sunday morning games to Peacock, Insider Intelligence reported. 

Its forecast also shows that YouTube and Netflix are neck and neck in terms of viewing time, with each grabbing an average of about 33 minutes per day among US adults. Hulu is in second place with 24 minutes, followed by Amazon Prime Video with 11 and Disney+ with 8, the company reported. 

Another key driver of digital video time is social video, the researchers said in a blog post. Average daily time spent with videos on social networks among US adults will climb 9.3% to 45.2 minutes this year. 

“TikTok is a key driver: Its total time spent among all US adults* will climb 14.2% this year to 17.4 minutes. With time spent with Facebook on the decline, TikTok will overtake it next year as the most-consumed social network among US adults. TikTok has been well ahead of Facebook among adult users of each platform since 2020,” the blog post explained. 

“Looking only at adult users of each platform, TikTok is already well ahead of every other social network and YouTube in terms of time spent. Adult TikTok users will spend roughly 56 minutes on the app each day in 2023, versus 48 minutes for adult users of YouTube,” the researchers said. 

“TikTok versus Netflix will be a major trend to watch this year,” said Jasmine Enberg, principal analyst at Insider Intelligence. “The lines between social and entertainment have blurred, and TikTok is now coming for the bigger-screen video players. New TikTok users add incremental new time spent, while its efforts in longer-form video, livestreaming and, more recently, music streaming, keep users on the platform longer. Growth in time spent on Netflix, meanwhile, is stagnant.”

“TikTok’s enormous popularity among young consumers is also what gives it an edge: We expect 18-to-24-year-old TikTok users in the US to spend an average of 1 hour on the app per day this year,” he continued. “With TikTok sending notifications to users ages 13 to 17 when they’ve spent more than 100 minutes on the app in a day, it stands to reason that teens are spending an exorbitant amount of time using TikTok.”

Although it’s not primarily a video platform, it’s worth noting that total time spent with Twitter among US adults will drop 10.7% this year and another 13.3% in 2024, the company predicted. A key reason is that they are predicting a 6.2% decline in monthly active Twitter users in 2023 in the US, and another 8.3% drop next year. Among the six social platforms they cover for time spent, Twitter has ranked next-to-last since TikTok overtook it in 2020. Reddit is sixth.

“As a primarily text-based platform, it’s easy to assume that video is an afterthought for Twitter,” said Enberg. “But videos about news and world events are an important engagement driver for the platform. The problem is that Twitter’s efforts to encourage more original videos, from Vine to Fleets, have so far been unsuccessful. Twitter owner Elon Musk’s attempts to bring more video to the app, including potentially incentivizing YouTube creators to post to Twitter, will be futile at improving time spent among all US adults unless he also manages to stave off a user decline.”

NEW YORK—The ongoing shift towards streaming media among TV audiences boosted streaming audiences to record levels in Dec. of 2022, with time spent watching streaming content up 46.1% on a yearly basis, according to Nielsen’s snapshot of TV viewing, The Gauge. 

Overall streaming gained 10.4 share points, climbing from 27.7% in Dec. of 2021 to 38.1% of total TV usage in Dec. of 2022. 

In contrast, broadcast usage was down 3.7% from November, and the category lost a share point to finish at 24.7% of total television, Nielsen said. 

The decline to broadcast viewing was driven by a sharp decrease in viewing to the general drama genre (-20%), and broadcast sports (-12.3%). Broadcast viewing in December was fairly flat compared with one year ago (+0.3%), and the category lost 1.4 share points compared to Dec. of 2021.

Cable viewing declined 2.4% versus November to end the month with a 30.9% share of TV. The changes in cable were driven by a 10.2% drop to cable news viewing, and the feature film genre, which jumped nearly 5% to 22.1% of cable viewing. On a year-over-year basis, time spent watching cable content declined 12% and the category lost 6.4 share points, Nielsen said. 

Overall TV viewing in the U.S. remained high in December, continuing momentum from November when time spent watching television soared 7.8% from the month prior. Similar to November 2022, December also recorded five days with over 100 billion minutes of TV viewing, including two of the top 10 most-watched days of television in 2022 (December 18  and December 25).

While December's TV usage was fairly flat on a monthly basis, the slight 0.3% increase gave it an edge over November to solidify it as the second-highest month in overall TV consumption in 2022, behind January. 

Similar to overall TV usage, December streaming usage was nearly even with November (+0.2%) and represented 38.1% of TV, losing one-tenth of a share point due to rounding. 

In another streaming milestone, Peacock made its debut in The Gauge this month, initiating coverage with a 1.0% share of TV and consistent growth demonstrated across previous measurement intervals, Nielsen reported. 

Notable changes in viewing among other streaming platforms included: 

• Viewing on HBO Max climbed by 18.1%—the largest usage increase across all named streaming platforms in The Gauge this month—and represented 1.4% of total TV consumption (+0.2 share pts.).
• Netflix and YouTube each lost one-tenth of a share point vs. November, finishing at 7.5% and 8.7% of television, respectively.
• Hulu usage was down 11% in December, which translated to 3.4% of TV (-0.4 share pts.).
• Viewing of linear television on MVPD (multichannel video programming distributor) and vMVPD (virtual multichannel video programming distributor) apps represented 5.3% of total television usage and 14.0% of streaming usage in December (compared with 5.8% and 15.2%, respectively, in November). YouTube TV accounted for 14.3% of YouTube viewing (1.2 share points), and Hulu Live made up 10.1% of Hulu viewing (0.3 share points). Broadcast and cable content viewed through linear streaming apps also credits the respective category.

NEW YORK—Nielsen is reporting that the time spent watching television jumped in November, making it second-highest month of overall TV consumption in 2022, thanks to large audiences for sports and streaming. January, 2022 remains the month with the most TV viewing.  

Nielsen’s The Gauge reported five days in November with over 100 billion minutes of TV viewing, including Thanksgiving Day (November 24) when audiences spent nearly 106 billion minutes in front of television screens. 

Thanksgiving ranked as the No. 2 most-watched day of TV so far in 2022, second to Sunday, January 16 which racked up over 107 billion minutes that were largely driven by three NFL Wild Card games, according to The Gauge, which provides a monthly snapshot of TV and streaming usage in the U.S.

Overall TV usage climbed 7.8% from October, and viewing volume was up for all categories across The Gauge on a monthly basis. 

Broadcast usage rose 6.7% from October, but due to the large increase in total television usage, its share of TV dropped slightly (-0.3 points) to 25.7%, Nielsen reported. Primarily driven by NFL programming, World Cup coverage, and four World Series games, broadcast sports viewing jumped 10.2% and accounted for the largest share (32%) of the category's viewing total. Broadcast news viewing was also up 14.6% compared with October, and viewing to the drama genre declined by over 12%. 

Total broadcast viewing in November was fairly similar compared with the same month one year ago (-0.7%), and from a share perspective, broadcast lost 1.6 share points. Additionally, broadcast sports viewing was down 5.6% on the year, while broadcast news viewing was up 19%, Nielsen said. 

Streaming saw the largest monthly increase in November with a 10.2% bump in usage, which brought the category to 38.2% of total TV viewing and set another record share for the digital format. Compared with November 2021, streaming usage grew by 41.2% and the category gained 9.7 share points.

From a streaming platform perspective, Netflix, HBO Max and YouTube all achieved double-digit viewing increases in November, up 13.1%, 12.2% and 11.8%, respectively versus October. Netflix also saw the most significant monthly increase in share (+0.4) to finish November with 7.6% of TV.

Viewing of linear television on MVPD (multichannel video programming distributor) and vMVPD (virtual multichannel video programming distributor) apps represented 5.8% of total television usage and 15.2% of streaming usage in November (compared with 5.7% and 15.4%, respectively, in October). YouTube TV accounted for 15.4% of YouTube viewing (1.4 share points), and Hulu Live made up 12.0% of Hulu viewing (0.5 share points). Broadcast and cable content viewed through linear streaming apps also credits the respective category.

Cable gained the smallest amount of monthly growth among viewing categories in The Gauge (+4.2%) and ended November with 31.8% of total TV usage, representing a monthly loss of 1.1 share points. The increase in cable viewing was driven by the feature film genre, which climbed 32.7% to make up 18.7% of cable's total, and cable news (+1.4% on volume), which remained the top genre for the category with 18.9%.

On a year-over-year basis, time spent watching cable content declined 9.3% and the category lost 5.1 share points. A yearly comparison also shows that cable sports and cable news viewing were up 19.6% and 17.6%, respectively, versus November 2021.

DALLAS—Parks Associates is reporting that consumers have maintained recent increases in the amount of time they spend watching video on their mobile phones, while time spent consuming video on a TV set, tablet, and computer continues to decrease. 

Advertising-based online video (AVOD) accounts for the largest share at nearly two hours per week on average, but consumers also spent more than one hour each watching subscription video services (SVOD) and live streaming content on their mobile phones.

"The shift between platforms will push the industry to tailor services and content more aggressively to suit mobile phone viewers," said Elizabeth Parks, president and CMO, Parks Associates. "This changing dynamic will likewise increase the importance of AVOD offerings, already increasingly popular on mobile phones."

Parks released the data in the runup to its fifth annual Future of Video: OTT, Pay TV, and Digital Media event which will be held December 12-14 at the Marina del Rey Marriott. The event features industry leaders from Sony, Xperi, VIZIO, Amazon, Sinclair Broadcast Group, Disney Streaming, Crackle Plus, Samsung TV Plus, and more.  

NEW YORK—Time spent watching television climbed in October according to The Gauge, Nielsen's monthly total TV and streaming snapshot, with a 9.8% jump in broadcast viewing driving an overall 2.2% monthly increase in TV consumption compared to September. 

The increase in broadcast viewing boosted broadcast’s share of total TV usage to 26.0%, its largest share since February 2022. 

Streaming also grew in October to make up 37.3% of TV viewing, while cable's share dropped to 32.9%. Overall TV usage was up 2.8% compared to one year ago.

For the second consecutive month, and in line with historical trends for this time of year, the broadcast category showed the largest month-over-month increase in viewing volume (+9.8%) and share (+1.8 points) across all categories in The Gauge. 

While broadcast sports viewing in October increased 19% compared to September and accounted for over 25% of broadcast usage, viewing of the General Drama genre saw a 42% jump to make up nearly 27% of usage.

However, compared to one year ago, broadcast viewing volume decreased 6.2% and the category was down 2.5 share points. Broadcast news viewing bucked that trend and was up by over 15% compared to the same month last year.

Cable lost nearly a full share point (-0.9) in October due to being the only category in The Gauge to remain fairly flat (-0.7%) versus September. Cable news viewing increased 3.3% in October and remained the largest cable genre at 19.6%. Cable sports saw the highest increase in viewing (+25%) compared to last month and represented 9.6% of cable's share.

Making up 32.9% of total TV in October, cable's share of television has consistently declined every month since March 2022. On a year-over-year basis, cable viewing was down 8.6% and the category lost 4.1 share points. A yearly comparison also shows that cable news and cable sports viewing were up 8.4% and 4.8%, respectively, versus October 2021.

Despite observing a slower month of growth in October compared to previous months, the streaming category continued to trend upward, exhibiting a 3.3% monthly increase in viewing volume and adding 0.4 share points to represent 37.3% of television. Streaming usage grew by 35.1% compared to the same month one year ago, and the category gained 8.9 share points.

In terms of individual streaming services, the Gauge reported that:

• Viewing on Disney+ increased nearly 7% versus September and added 0.1 share point.
• Hulu usage was up 5%, adding 0.1 share point.
• Viewing on YouTube increased over 8% this month and added 0.5 share point.
• Both Hulu and YouTube benefited from the surge in broadcast viewing this month by way of their linear streaming components which made up 12.3% and 14.6% of each services' share, respectively.

Viewing of linear television on MVPDs (multichannel video programming distributors) and vMVPDs (virtual multichannel video programming distributors) apps represented 5.7% of total television usage and 15.4% of streaming usage in October. Broadcast and cable content viewed through linear streaming apps also credits its respective category.

NEW YORK—Streaming platforms continued to dominate TV viewing in August of 2022 with 35% of all TV viewing, narrowly beating out cable (34.5% of TV viewing), according to Nielsen’s The Gauge. 

Broadcast lagged significantly behind with 22.1% of TV viewing but its volume and share of viewing increased from July, when it had a 21.6% share.  

August was the second straight month where streaming platforms held the largest share of TV viewing and marked a record high share for streaming, Nielsen said. 

The month also saw a notable shift in viewing share among the streamers with YouTube tying Netflix for the first time with the largest share of TV viewing.  

Broadcast had a 1.6% increase in viewing volume which translated to an incremental +0.5 share points in August. August was its first month without a decline since January 2022, Nielsen said. 

This was driven by an 11% viewing bump in the "general variety" genre, which includes shows like "Big Brother", and a 3% increase in sports content viewing which was due in part to the MLB Field of Dreams game, several NFL preseason games, and the return of college football. 

Compared to one year ago, however, broadcast's viewing volume was down -10.9% in August and the category lost -2.4 share points.

Cable's share of TV was up +0.1 share points to 34.5% in August compared to July despite monthly usage remaining fairly flat, Nielsen said. 

The category tracked a 27.4% increase in sports viewing, led by NFL preseason games on ESPN and the NFL Network, in addition to the NASCAR Cup Series on USA Network. 

Nielsen also reported an 13% increase in cable news viewing, which is cable's most-watched genre, making up 19.3% of cable viewing. Compared to one year ago, cable's viewing volume was down -9.4% in August and declined -3.0 share points.

While streaming gained +0.2 share points in August, coming in at 35% total share, streaming viewing was flat compared to July. High-profile content on individual streaming platforms drove a number of shifts this month:

Among the individual streaming platforms, HBO Max recorded a 13.7% increase in viewing volume and a record-high 1.2% share, a lift led by the release of HBO's “House of the Dragon”.

Viewing of Netflix's “Stranger Things” steadily declined in August, leading to a 6.5% drop in usage and loss of -0.5 share points, bringing the streaming platform to 7.6% share of TV—only exceeded by Netflix's shares recorded in June and July 2022.

Time spent watching YouTube increased 2.8% in August and gained +0.3 share points, tying Netflix's share for the first time at 7.6% of total TV, Nielsen said. 

YouTube TV viewing, which is included in YouTube's share of television, increased 14.9% in August compared to July and represented 11.9% of YouTube usage.

Compared to one year ago, streaming consumption was up +22.6% in August, representing a gain of 6.8 share points.

Linear Streaming, including live TV apps offered by MVPDs (multichannel video programming distributors such as Charter/Spectrum and DirecTV apps) and vMVPDs (virtual multichannel video programming distributors such as YouTube TV, Hulu Live), is included in the streaming category and represents 4.2% of total television usage, Nielsen explained. Broadcast and cable content viewed through linear streaming apps also credits its respective category.

NEW YORK—Nielsen’s monthly snapshot of total TV viewing for February 2022 found that sports viewing drove broadcast TV to a higher weekly share of viewing in the first week of February and that the war in Ukraine produced a spike in cable and broadcast TV news viewing. 

Overall, however, broadcast TV’s share of total viewing declined slightly from 26.4% in January of 2022 to 26.0%, while while cable TV’s share held steady at 36.4% (versus 36.5% in January) and streaming garnered a 28.7% share of total viewing (versus 28.9% in January).

Nielsen’s The Gauge for February of 2022 found that cable viewing increased 54% during the last week of February, as interest in the war in Ukraine helped news gain one-fourth of all cable consumption, representing a 16.5% overall month to month increase. Comparatively, broadcast news increased by 6% in the final week of the month, elevating the genre to the second-largest behind drama.

The new Nielsen data also showed that broadcast television gained its highest weekly share of viewing since October 2021 at 28.7% in the first week of February, primarily off the heels of a compelling Super Bowl, which accounted for 39% of total broadcast viewership during the week of February 7. 

Overall sports programming viewership increased during the Winter Olympics, capturing 20% and 23% of total broadcast usage during the weeks of February 1 and February 14, respectively. 

Despite the sports-induced broadcast viewership increase seen in February, total television viewing was down 5.7% from January, below the 5% average decrease over the past five years.

The "Other" category—which is reflective of video game usage—gained almost a full share point due to increased time consumers spent gaming during the Presidents' Day holiday and other winter breaks in the U.S. 

Among the streamers, Netflix led with 6.6%, followed by YouTube (5.7% share) and Hulu (3.0%).

More data is available here.

BOSTON, Mass.—A new survey from Hub Entertainment Research indicates that the time spent watching TV and movies continues to decline among all consumers and now accounts for less than half (48%) of the time spent with screen-based entertainment. 

That is “the lowest level since we’ve been tracking entertainment habits,” the researchers reported. 

The Hub’s annual “Video Redefined” study, which examines how American consumers divvy up their entertainment time, reported that TV and movies account for just 48% of all the time consumers say they spend with screen-based entertainment, down 5 points from a year ago and down 11 points from 2019.

The study also found that consumers were replacing TV and movie time with time spent watching online videos, gaming, and browsing social media, areas that were up an equivalent 5 points from last year.

The move away from TV was particularly notable among younger viewers. The researchers found that at the age of 35, there is a major shift toward TV and movies as the primary source of entertainment time, with those aged 35 and older spending 60% of their time watching TV and movies.

In contrast, for those aged 13 to 24, TV and movies account for just one-fourth of entertainment time. This group spent 57% of their entertainment time on online videos, gaming, and social media while those aged 35 and older spent 28% of their time on online videos, gaming, and social media.

The Hub study also found that young consumers spend almost as much time watching online videos as they spend watching traditional TV, with 13 to 24 year-olds estimating that they spend nearly 14 hours per week watching “non-premium” online videos (i.e., videos that are not traditional TV shows or movies). That’s only about an hour less than the time they estimate they spend watching TV and movies. 

At the other end of the spectrum consumers aged 35 and older spend 2.5 times as much time watching TV and movies than online videos.

The survey also found that half of young consumers acknowledge that the time they spent with other screen-based entertainment has cut into their TV viewing time. About half (51%) of those aged 13 to 24 say they spend less time watching TV shows and movies because of the time they spend on gaming, online videos, social media, and other non-TV entertainment activities.

The impact is much lower among older consumers: only 19% of those aged 35+ say other screen-based viewing is cutting into their traditional TV and movie time.

“When it comes to sources of screen-based entertainment, younger and older consumers could not be more different,” said Peter Fondulas, Hub principal and co-author of the study. “The million-dollar question is whether today’s young consumers will always prioritize non-traditional content—or whether they’ll start to resemble older consumers as they grow older. Our prediction is that their behaviors are so ingrained that non-traditional content will always be a significant part of their entertainment consumption.”

The data comes from the second wave of Hub’s “Video Redefined” study, conducted among 2,179 US consumers aged 13-74, who watch at least 1 hour of TV per week and have broadband service. The data were collected in December 2021. 

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NEW YORK—New data released on January 13  from The Gauge, Nielsen’s monthly total TV and streaming snapshot, revealed that streaming in the U.S. reached a new all-time weekly high of over 183 billion minutes of video in December 2021, giving over-the-top platforms a record-breaking 33% share of total TV viewing during the week of Christmas.

The data highlighted the importance of streaming during holiday periods, with the new Christmas week data surpassing the previous-high of 178 billion minutes streamed during Thanksgiving week in November 2021. 

Prior to that, the 160 billion minutes streamed during March 2020 was the highest total. 

Yet for the entire month of December, the overall percentage TV viewing share for streaming remained flat from the previous month at 28%. 

Cable viewing continued to account for the largest percentage as measured by The Gauge, with just over 37% total share of viewership while broadcast viewing dropped one share point to 26.1%.

The "Other" category, which includes video on-demand content, cable set top box streaming, gaming, and DVD usage, gained 1.6% share on the strength of video gaming's premiere season to 8.9%.

In terms of individual streaming services, Netflix led with 6.4% of total TV viewing, followed by YouTube (5.8%), Hulu (3.0%), Prime Video (2.1%) and Disney (1.6%). 

The latest edition of The Gauge is available at www.nielsen.com/thegauge.

NEW YORK—Total TV viewing on broadcast, cable and streaming rose by 5% in November, thanks to time away from daily routines and the Thanksgiving holiday, which inspired consumers to spend more time with TV, according to Nielsen's The Gauge monthly snapshot of total TV viewing. 

But broadcast television usage lost a share point compared to October, dropping to 27% of total usage, compared to cable (flat compared to October at a 38% share ) and streaming (flat at 28%). 

While sports viewing was up 7%, a decline in general drama (-12%) and sitcom (-7%) viewing contributed to the decrease in broadcast TV’s viewing share. 

In contrast, the November iteration of The Gauge, the "Other" category gained a percentage point to hit a 7% viewing share. This one percentage point in growth was driven primarily by students using their time away from school and their studies to spend more time playing video games, Nielsen said. 

In terms of streaming, data from Nielsen's Streaming Platform Ratings, the foundation of The Gauge's streaming insights, showed that Disney+ gained a percentage point to capture 2% of total TV usage, as the platform's viewership grew nearly 20%. This increase was bolstered by the availability of the platform's kids audience, and the anticipated releases of Shang-Chi and The Beatles: Get Back documentary, Nielsen said. 

Netflix usage remained steady with a 7% share, while Hulu and Amazon Prime Video collected 3% and 2%, respectively.

NEW YORK—Sports and fall season dramas boosted the TV viewing share of broadcast to 28% in October, about the same as streaming (28%), but behind cable (37%), according to Nielsen’s The Gauge. 

The improved broadcast share of two percentage points meant that October was the first month since Nielsen launched The Gauge in May when streaming’s share of TV viewing wasn’t larger than broadcast.  

The uptick is the second consecutive monthly gain for broadcast, while streaming was flat. Cable and the “other” category lost TV viewing share. 

Nielsen said two key genres were responsible for the rise in broadcast viewership: sports, which was up 22% from September, and general drama, which increased a whopping 30% as viewers gravitated to the new programming season, which is now in full swing. 

Combined, sports and general drama accounted for 35% of the time viewers spent watching broadcast programming in October, Nielsen reported. 

While streaming’s total share of TV remained flat, The Gauge’s data showed that linear streamers (e.g., Charter/Spectrum, DirecTV, SlingTV, etc.), which are included in the “other streaming” category, saw double-digit viewership growth. 

Netflix also gained a share point to account for 7% of total viewing, with actual minutes viewed rising 5.5% on the strength of high-profile hits like “Squid Game.” 

Other streamers remained steady in their share of viewing time, with YouTube at 6% followed by Hulu at 3%, Amazon Prime Video (2%), and Disney+ (1%). 

Data from October and earlier months can be accessed at www.nielsen.com/thegauge.

 NEW YORK—New data from Nielsen’s The Gauge, which offers a snapshot of monthly total TV and streaming viewing, shows that in September 2021 broadcasters share of total TV viewing saw a two percentage point increase, giving them 26% of consumers' total TV time.

The boost comes on the heels of a strong ratings start to the NFL season as well as the beginning of the TV season on September 20, Nielsen reported. 

In contrast, the consumer share of TV time for both cable and streaming remained flat, with cable commanding a 38% share and streaming holding steady at 28%, while Nielsen’s "Other" category—which includes video game usage—was down from 10% to 8%. 

This two percentage point decline was driven by a combination of video game users heading back to the classrooms as well as a shift of attention from gaming to the gridiron, Nielsen said. 

Among the streamers, both Netflix and Disney+ each ticked down a percentage point from August. Netflix now commands 6% share of total TV time, while Disney+ holds 1% of share of overall TV time. Hulu and Amazon Prime Video remained steady at 3% and 2%, respectively.

The latest edition of The Gauge is available at www.nielsen.com/thegauge.

NEW YORK—Nielsen’s summary of TV viewing for July, The Gauge, showed streaming increasing its share to 28% while broadcast also gained viewers, with a slightly improved 25% share of July TV viewing. 

In announcing the newest numbers, Brian Fuhrer, senior vice president of product strategy at Nielsen noted that streaming has been gaining about one percentage point a month, with a 26% share in May and a 27% share in June. 

Fuhrer explained that in July, broadcast recaptured television viewers, growing a percentage point thanks to high-profile sporting events coupled with the opening weekend of the Olympics. This shift in viewing meant that cable gave up some ground while streaming also picked up a share point. This is potentially a precursor to August viewership behavior, which will reflect the full duration of the Olympics.

“Behind the scenes, sports also likely impacted streaming’s share,” Fuhrer said. “This includes many of the Olympics highlights clips, which were posted on YouTube, where we saw some minutes increase. We’ll stay tuned for next month when we’ll have the full impact of the Games to review.” 

Among the streamers, Netflix led with 7%, followed by YouTube and YouTube TV with a 6% viewing share, Hulu and Hulu Live with 3%, Prime Video at 2% and Disney at 2%.

Overall broadcast and cable continued to dominate total viewing in July with a 62% share, slightly down from the 64% share they had in May.  

DURHAM, N.H.—New consumer research from Leichtman Research Group finds that watching video on connected devices is now a daily habit in many homes, with two in five adults (39%) watching video on a connected device each day but the usage, which jumped during the pandemic, is leveling off. 

The survey also found that the habit is widespread, both among pay TV subs and people without a pay TV service. About 35% of adults with a pay-TV service watch video via a connected TV device daily, compared to 50% of pay-TV non-subscribers.

Overall, 60% of adults watch video via a connected TV device at least weekly. That is about the same as 2020 (59%) but notably up from 52% in 2019, 40% in 2016, and 10% in 2011.

“Use of connected TV devices levelled off over the past year after being pulled forward due to the coronavirus pandemic last year,” said Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for Leichtman Research Group, Inc. “Still, 39% of adults watch video on a TV via a connected device daily, and 60% at least weekly. Over 80% of TV households in the U.S. now have at least one connected TV device, with a mean of 4.1 devices per connected TV household."

Younger individuals are most likely to use connected TV devices. Among all ages 18-34, 54% watch video on a TV via a connected device daily, compared to 43% of ages 35-54 and 22% of ages 55+.

About 55% of TV households have at least one stand-alone streaming device, up from 49% in 2019, 33% in 2016, and 3% in 2011

In addition, about 43% of all TV sets in U.S. households are connected smart TVs, an increase from 32% in 2019, 19% in 2016, and 7% in 2014. 

But as usage has increased, spending on new sets is down as consumers are able to buy larger sets for less money. The survey found that spending on a new TV was about $530, down from $795 in 2016.

These findings are based on a survey of 2,000 TV households in the U.S., and are part of a new LRG study, `Connected TVs 2021.’ 

This is LRG’s eighteenth annual study on TVs in the U.S.

OKAYAMA, Japan & NEW YORK CITY—Several new research studies suggest that excessive TV viewing can have adverse effects on both young children and older adults. 

A study in the Japanese Journal of Ophthalmology from researchers at Okayama University found that long hours in front of the television in children under 3 years of age produced increased eyesight concerns during later years.

Anecdotal evidence has long suggested that prolonged viewing of television and use of smart gadgets during early years can adversely affect a child's eyesight and behavioral development. 

The Okayama University study goes beyond that by providing scientific evidence based on a large Japanese government database covering 47,015 eligible children. They found that if children had high television exposure at the ages of 1.5 years or 2.5 years, parents showed significant concerns around their children's eyesight in later years. 

These results were consistent for children of both sexes and did not change based on such factors as a residential area or parents' education. 

The researchers also re-analyzed the responses of a smaller pool of participants—those who participated in all surveys conducted when the children were between 7 to 12 years of age—and found they confirmed the primary findings. 

"This nationwide population-based longitudinal study is the first to demonstrate that television-watching only in the earlier years of life, but not in the later years, leads to the later consequence of visual acuity problems at elementary school age," concluded Professor Matsuo Toshihiko and Professor Yorifuji Takashi in a statement. 

For the full article see: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10384-021-00831-x

Separately, HealthDay reported that three studies presented on May 21 at the American Heart Association's Epidemiology, Prevention, Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health Conference found that “middle-aged folks who regularly turn to TV for entertainment appear to have a greater risk of decline in their reasoning and memory later in life.”  

"I don't think it's necessarily the act of watching TV itself that is bad for brain health, but that it may potentially be a proxy measure of sedentary behavior," Priya Palta, an assistant professor of medical sciences and epidemiology at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City told Health Day. She is the lead researcher for one of the studies.

For the full article in HealthDay visit: https://consumer.healthday.com/5-20-too-much-tv-may-dull-the-aging-brain-2652987940.html

BOSTON—A year into the pandemic, consumers’ new habits of increased TV viewing and streaming are becoming entrenched, according to the latest Hub Entertainment Research study. Even so, things aren’t all rosy, as pay-TV is turning into the easiest service to drop amid the plethora of options available.

These statistics come from Hub’s latest “Predicting the Pandemic” research, which compared responses from three different times over the last year—July 2020, November 2020 and February 2021.

Last July, 69% of respondents told Hub they were watching more TV at that time than they did before the pandemic; the numbers were similar (70%) in November. But as of February that percentage shot up seven points to 77%, with 42% saying they watched a lot more TV than prior to the pandemic.

More consumers are also adding new services. Hub found that 44% of respondents said that they have added at least one subscription service during the pandemic, up 10 points from November 2020. Related, a quarter of respondents said that they had dropped at least one TV service; that number was at 18% in July 2020.

Per Hub’s research, a good chunk of those dropped services were likely pay-TV. Since November 2020, cable, satellite or telco TV services fell by 9 points, with 62% of TV consumers saying they subscribe to such a service. More people are opting to go with vMVPD services (YouTube TV, Sling TV, etc.) to access local and cable channels, as the percentage of vMVPD subscribers has increased from 11% in February 2020 to 21% in February 2021.

Consumers’ mentality around pay-TV has also shifted over the last year. In July 2020, 69% of consumers said that they would have still cut their pay-TV services if the pandemic had not happened. But as of February, that number has increased to 89%.

Meanwhile, all the major streaming platforms (Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, Hulu and HBO Max) have seen steady increase in subscription numbers. HBO Max has seen a significant increase in subscriptions since November 2020, which HUB attributes to its decision to release 2021 Warner Bros. movies the same day as they debut in theaters. However, HBO Max is also the service that most consumers would consider dropping post-COVID.

In addition, more people are now using AVOD streaming services, growing from 34% in February 2020 to 58% in February 2021.

“What’s been most interesting to us in our pandemic-related research has been trying to determine which pandemic-induced changes in TV behavior will persist once life begins to return to normal,” said Peter Fondulas, principal at Hub and co-author of the study. “This wave of the study strongly suggests that Americans have grown more than just accustomed to the TV viewing adjustments they’ve made during the pandemic, and are ready to embrace a new, streaming-centric normal.”

The full “Predicting the Pandemic” report is available on Hub’s website. 

NEW YORK—The amount of time people spent watching connected TVs during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic saw a growth, along with overall media use. Now, as restrictions start to ease, traditional TV viewing numbers are starting to normalize, but connected TVs (CTV) numbers are remaining well above their pre-COVID levels, according to Nielsen.

CTV usage includes smart TVs, internet-connected devices and game consoles. During shelter-in-place orders, consumption over CTVs rose by more than 1 billion hours. But it now appears that this increased use of CTVs could very well be part of the new normal in media consumption habits.

Prior to stay-at-home orders in mid-March, weekly CTV consumption was under 3 billion hours (2.9 billion from March 9-15). For the first five weeks of social distancing, weekly consumption was either 3.8 or 3.9 billion hours. Since the week ending on April 19, those numbers have decreased, but as of the week of May 4-10, weekly consumption of CTV was still 3.5 billion hours, according to Nielsen’s numbers. Traditional TV viewing in early May was only slightly higher than in 2019, Nielsen says.

PLUS: Comcast Sees New TV Watching Behaviors During Pandemic

A key element of CTVs increase usage, per Nielsen, is its variety of content options, including streaming apps, OTT channels and gaming. Also, its library content that is among the most popular with viewers, as 60% of the SVOD minutes viewed are attributed to acquired content rather than original programming for streaming companies.

Even before COVID-19, there were upward trends for CTV. As of March 2020, Nielsen data showed that 76% of U.S. homes had at least one connected device. In the early part of the year, CTV devices were being used about 12.5 billion hours each month. When quarantines began, total hours spent using CTV devices increased 81% year-over-year, equating to nearly 4 billion hours per week.

“The rise in overall media consumption during U.S. shelter-in-place restrictions was expected, although perhaps not to the degree which it did,” Nielsen said in its report. “With 49 of the U.S. states now re-open at least partially, the continued high CTV usage is a testament to consumers’ attraction to the variety of options available and the connectivity they have to it.”

Find out more at Nielsen’s website. 

LOS ANGELES—TV viewing habits are actually poised to go up in a post-coronavirus world, according to a new survey from E-Poll.

According to the E-Poll survey, 21% of respondents said that they intend to watch more TV shows, movies and streamed programming after “things return to normal;” 14% said they intend to watch less, but that comes out to a 7% net increase.

Nielsen forecasted at the beginning of the stay-at-home orders that content consumption would rise significantly during this time. According to a new report from Nielsen on streaming video viewing on TVs from March 23-April 19, U.S. audiences reached 654.6 billion minutes; a comparable four-week period in 2019 saw 301.4 billion minutes.

Another factor into why TV and streaming viewing may continue to be popular even after coronavirus is that people reportedly will be concerned about attending large gatherings, including entertainment offerings like movies, concerts and sporting events.

As far as when things might return to normal, a third of E-Poll respondents said they expect that to happen in the next three months. A majority think that it will take six months or longer.

The full E-Poll report is available online.

STOCKHOLM—TV viewing is on the move, literally. In eighth edition of its ConsumerLab TV and Media Report, Ericsson has learned that the traditional ways of watching TV are shifting. Among their findings are that more people are going mobile, on-demand continues to rise and that virtual reality will continue to make inroads with consumers.

By the time we reach 2020, Ericsson says that 50 percent of TV and video viewing will be mobile, with viewers watching on a tablet, laptop or smartphone screen; an 85 percent increase since 2010. The smartphone will particularly be popular, representing about a quarter of total TV viewing. Already, 70 percent of consumers say they now watch video on their smartphones, double what it was in 2012.

Ericsson reports that a consumer’s time spent watching TV and video content has hit an all-time high of 30 hours a week, including traditional linear, on-demand, and downloaded or recorded content. It’s on-demand content that is charging out ahead, with nearly 60 percent of viewers saying they prefer on-demand viewing over scheduled linear TV viewing. The number of on-demand services used by the average consumer has gone up from 1.6 in 2012 to 3.8 in 2017; two in five consumers said they already pay for on-demand TV services and 32 percent plan to increase their on-demand spending within the next year.

These trends are clearly evident in 16-19-year-olds, who are 33 hours a week view the most content of any age group. Ericsson found that more than half of the age group watches content on-demand and more than 60 percent of viewing hours spent on a mobile device.

While viewing time is up, so is the amount of time spent searching for content, per the report. The average time spent searching for content has increased nearly an hour a day, 13 percent higher than last year. Six in 10 consumers now consider content discovery “very important” when subscribing for a new service; 70 percent want universal search for all TV and video.

Consumers are also expected to continue to support VR, with a reported third of consumers projected to be VR users by 2020. Though there are still challenges. The price of headsets is an issue for 55 percent of consumers and more than half want more immersive content to be available. The idea of a VR bundle from TV and video providers is something of interest for a third of respondents.

The full report is available here.

NEW YORK—Researchers have been trying to identify the media/viewing habits of Millennials for some time, but Nielsen is taking a new approach with its “Millennials on Millennials” study. This inaugural report was conducted by a team of Nielsen Millennial associates to offer insight into the media habits of the now largest generational group, one that has grown up in a world of rapidly changing technological advancements. One of its chief findings was that TV is still king, but the traditional TV box is not the only way they watch.

The report indicates that 66 percent of the average weekly minutes of video consumption for those between the ages of 18-34 comes from traditional TV; however, those above the age of 35 spend about 89 percent of their time watching traditional TV. Most of that difference is going to TV connected devices, things like DVD players, VCRs, game consoles and digital streaming devices. These TV-connected devices account for 23 percent of Millennials total video time, compared to older consumers’ 6 percent. The rest of the time for video consumption is split between PC, smartphones and tablets, though none crack the 10 percent mark for Millennials.

Despite the shift toward some non-traditional TV viewing methods, when the report looked into the number of viewers who changed the channel during commercial breaks of a premiere episode of various primetime programs, it was the 35+ crowd that had the more active remote, with 5.5 percent of 35-54 year olds changing the channel and 8 percent of 55 or older; Millennials came in at less than 2 percent. That doesn’t mean they were necessarily paying attention to the commercial though.

The study showed that Millennials’ program engagement and ad memorability were the lowest scores among the age groups, because they were instead engaged with other devices, like their smartphones. Still, most Millennials (79 percent) say they understand that ads are necessary, and close to a majority (46 percent) say ads don’t bother them, more so if the content is free (75 percent).

In addition, as Millennials sources of content go beyond the traditional TV to things like social media, respondents said that social media stars are becoming more synonymous with the idea of “celebrity.”

The full “Millennials on Millennials” report can be found on Nielsen’s website.