NEW YORK—During the landmark month of May, when streaming surpassed the combined viewing shares of broadcast and cable for the first time, Nielsen’s latest Media Distributor Gauge report found that pure-play streamer YouTube maintained the leading share of total TV viewing, while the largest monthly increases in share belonged to multiplatform distributors, Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox.
Warner Bros. Discovery exhibited the largest gain of any distributor in May, adding 0.3 share points versus April to finish the month with 7.0% of total television usage.
WBD’s increase was overwhelmingly powered by TNT, which notched a 69% jump in viewership over last month due in large part to its coverage of the NBA Playoffs, Nielsen reported.
The eight New York Knicks games carried by TNT amassed nearly 7 billion viewing minutes combined. In fact, the NBA Playoffs generated 31.4 billion viewing minutes overall in May across WBD and Disney entities, with nearly a quarter of the viewing total attributable to Knicks games.
Fox added 0.2 points to its share of TV in May. While it was partly due to NASCAR traction on Fox Sports 1, Fox’s increase was primarily due to the continued growth of its FAST service, Tubi, Nielsen said.
Tubi achieved a platform-record 2.2% share of TV viewing in May, driven by a 25% increase among 18-24 year-olds, and accounted for nearly a third of Fox’s overall viewing total.
Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery each finished the month with a 7.0% share of TV, although WBD came out slightly ahead based on unrounded figures and moved up to sixth overall in the distributor ranking.
YouTube extended its streak as the leading media distributor to four consecutive months, gaining 0.1 share point in May to represent 12.5% of total TV. While YouTube actually exhibited monthly declines in virtually every demographic group (with the exception of audiences 65+), its overall decrease was ultimately less than that of total TV, leading to a monthly gain in share and yet another platform best, Nielsen explained.
Other key developments in the May distributor rankings included:
- NBCU moved up to third with 8.0% of television viewing.
- Paramount fell to fourth after losing a full share point, following the conclusions of the NCAA basketball tournament and The Masters.
- The Roku Channel also hit a new platform-best in May with a 2.5% share of TV, boosted by double-digit gains among the 12-17 and 25-34 age demographics.
- The May 2025 interval included dates 04/29/2025 through 05/26/2025. Nielsen reporting follows the broadcast calendar with measurement weeks that run Monday through Sunday.
