NEW YORK—Streaming platforms continued to dominate TV viewing patterns in June, with data from Nielsen’s 50th monthly report of The Gauge showing that streaming viewership surged once again to represent 46.0% of television use.
Time spent streaming was up 5.4% in June versus May. That was primarily driven by both a standout month for Netflix and a seasonal influx in viewing from school-aged audiences, the report noted.
The June increase builds on landmark May viewing figures, which showed that streaming’s share of total TV viewing time for the first time ever surpassed the combined viewing share of broadcast and cable.
Netflix recorded the largest monthly uptick among streaming platforms in June, posting a 13.5% viewing increase over May and adding 0.8 share points to command 8.3% of TV. Overall, Netflix’s performance was so strong it accounted for 42% of streaming’s total monthly gain, the study found.
The considerable upswing for Netflix was powered by a slate of highly successful content, including its original series “Ginny & Georgia,” which was the most-streamed title of the month with 8.7 billion viewing minutes.
Nielsen also reported that the so-called Netflix effect was in full view with the immediate popularity of acquired series “Animal Kingdom” and “Blindspot,” which earned the second and third most-streamed titles in June and combined for 11.4 billion viewing minutes (5.71 billion and 5.69 billion, respectively).
Finally, Netflix rounded out the month with the release of the third season of “Squid Game,” which generated nearly 1 billion viewing minutes—per day—across the series in the final three days of the June interval.
Peacock was a close second to Netflix from a monthly increase perspective, notching a 13.4% usage uptick. Peacock’s increase was driven by the new season of its original series “Love Island USA,” which garnered 4.4 billion viewing minutes and was the fourth most-streamed title of the month. Peacock ultimately gained a tenth of a share point to finish with 1.5% of TV in June, up 0.3 points compared to June 2024, the study found.
Kids and teens were the other main driver of streaming’s share shift, as well as for the overall increase in total television usage, which was up 3% over May. With more time to spend in front of the TV, total usage among 6-to-17-year-olds was up 27% versus last month, and streaming accounted for two-thirds (66%) of their total time spent with TV in June. Not coincidentally, Netflix and Peacock both saw the largest month-over-month increases from the 6-17 year old group, with viewing from that cohort jumping 32% and 37%, respectively, versus May, Nielsen reported.
Also notable among this school-aged demographic was its contribution to the Other category, the report noted. While “other” contains a variety of sources, the main contributions come from video game console usage and set-top box usage. The Other category was up 14% overall versus May, but among 6-17 year-olds, the increase was much more significant, capturing a 41% bump.
Though broadcast and cable each exhibited declines in overall viewing in June, there were a few bright spots, the data indicated.
For broadcast, the NBA Finals on ABC represented the top seven telecasts of the month and helped lift broadcast sports viewership by 17% compared to May. In addition to the seven finals games, ABC took each of the top 12 telecasts in June, including the NBA trophy presentation and “ABC World News Tonight With David Muir.”
Cable also benefited from NBA viewership, as the NBA Conference Finals on ESPN and TNT ranked as the top two cable telecasts. A busy news cycle also drove cable news viewing up 12% versus May, and feature-film viewing also trended upward. Cable also benefitted from special programming, including the Army 250 Parade on Fox News Channel, which ranked fifth among cable programs with 2.8 million viewers, and “Good Night, and Good Luck” on CNN, which was seventh among cable programs in June with 2.4 million viewers.
Nielsen also stressed that the typical summer lull in traditional TV viewing had a notable impact.
The combined share of broadcast and cable fell from 44.2% of TV in May to 41.9% in June. On the whole, broadcast viewing was down 5% to represent 18.5% of total TV, marking the first time the category has fallen below a 20.0% share. Cable viewing was fairly flat compared to May, but the category still lost 0.7 share points due to the larger increase in overall TV usage and finished June with 23.4% of TV.
The June interval spanned May 26 through June 29. Nielsen reporting follows the broadcast calendar, with measurement weeks that run Monday through Sunday.
