NEW YORK—Nielsen’s newest edition of the Ad Supported Gauge shows that the total share of ad-supported TV is holding steady in Q1 2026, representing nearly 73% of overall TV viewing while streaming captured a record share of ad-supported TV viewing.
In the quarter, streaming captured a record-high 46.6% share of ad-supported TV, driven by seasonal events including NBCU’s Super Bowl simulcast, Olympics coverage on Peacock, Amazon’s NFL playoff games, and additional episodes of blockbuster series like Stranger Things on Netflix, Landman on Paramount+, and The Pitt on HBO Max.
Overall, sports continue to be a driving force behind the consistently high share of ad supported TV. The fourth quarter, with its blockbuster sports schedule, retained the high water mark for share of ad supported TV, but there is less than a 1.8 share point difference between the highest and lowest quarter.
Coming off a five-quarter high in Q4, broadcast captured a 28.2% share of ad-supported TV viewing in Q1, down 1.4 share points from last quarter and down 0.5 points year-over-year.
Cable rebounded to a 25.2% share (up 0.4 points from Q4), driven by the February 2026 Olympics and its traditional March Madness ratings surge.
In releasing the data, Nielsen noted that the published version of The Ad Supported Gauge has not migrated to the ARF DASH-based media related universe estimates which is planned for the fall. This is significant because this approach, while consistent with previous months of the Gauge, will have different results than production data.
