Nielsen: Streaming Slightly More Popular than Broadcast

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NEW YORK—Nielsen has debuted a new measurement service, The Gauge, that shows streaming accounted for about 26% of total TV viewing in May, slightly more than the 25% spent on TV, but still behind the 39% with cable among people aged 2 and older. 

Among the streamers, Netflix and YouTube tied for first with each of them accounting for 6% of total TV viewing. Hulu (3%), Amazon’s Prime Video (2%) and Disney Plus (1%) rounded out the list of streamers.  

Nielsen also listed an all other category (9%) of total viewing that included many other things, including VOD, streaming through a cable set top box, gaming, and usage of other devices such as DVDs. 

In a statement, Brian Fuhrer, senior vice president of product strategy at Nielsen noted: "the past year has categorically shifted the television viewing landscape. Even as people begin to dive back into their pre-pandemic activities, based on the changes many made to enable streaming coupled with the variety of newly introduced services, we expect people to keep sampling and exploring their options.  Maybe just as importantly, as production ramps back up, new content will enter the space, driving additional traction.”  

George Winslow

George Winslow is the senior content producer for TV Tech. He has written about the television, media and technology industries for nearly 30 years for such publications as Broadcasting & Cable, Multichannel News and TV Tech. Over the years, he has edited a number of magazines, including Multichannel News International and World Screen, and moderated panels at such major industry events as NAB and MIP TV. He has published two books and dozens of encyclopedia articles on such subjects as the media, New York City history and economics.