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.
