In a notable milestone for the streaming giant, Netflix is now one of the three largest media distributors, according to the June rankings of Nielsen’s 2025 Media Distributor Gauge, which ranks companies by their share of TV viewing.
It is the first time that the streamer has moved into the top three, Nielsen said, and comes as welcome news for Netflix, which is making a major push to expand its advertising business.
Netflix posted the largest monthly share increase across all media companies measured in Nielsen’s Media Distributor Gauge report for June, adding 0.8 share points from May to represent 8.3% of June’s TV usage total. That is its largest share of television since January 2025.
As reported in Nielsen’s The Gauge, while time spent watching streaming content in June was up over 5% compared to May, Netflix viewership surged 13.5% over the same period. Netflix viewing was powered by a packed slate of fresh content, as well as the annual summer increase in streaming-heavy viewers aged 6-17.
YouTube remained atop the Media Distributor Gauge rankings for a fifth consecutive month, thanks to a boost from school-aged audiences in June. The streamer notched a 6% monthly viewing increase over May and represented 12.8% of TV usage, its largest share of television to date. With a 2.8-point lead over second-place Disney, this marks YouTube’s largest lead among media distributors to date, the study found.
The report also noted that seasonal summer viewing trends, coupled with a lack of sports and new content, resulted in similar impacts across the multiplatform companies this month. The Walt Disney Co. represented 10% of total TV viewing in June and held onto its No. 2 ranking among media distributors. ABC affiliates notably accounted for the top 33 broadcast telecasts in June, driven largely by the NBA Finals and “ABC World News Tonight With David Muir.”
NBCU posted the fourth-largest total among media companies with 7.8% of TV viewing. Led by a 4.4 billion-minute month for its reality-dating series “Love Island USA,” Peacock notched a 13.4% monthly viewing increase in June and was the second-largest contributor across NBCU’s stable this month behind its NBC affiliates. NBCU’s viewership total was up slightly overall compared to May, although it gave up some share this month (down 0.2 share points).
The June 2025 interval ran from May 26 through June 29. Nielsen reporting follows the broadcast calendar, with measurement weeks that run Monday through Sunday.
