NEW YORK—Nielsen’s rankings of media distributors by their share of total TV viewing saw YouTube, Disney and Netflix remain the top three ranked companies in August as the start of the football season helped Disney and Fox increase their share of TV viewing.
Nielsen’s Media Distributor Gauge for August showed that #2 ranked Disney climbed to 9.7% of TV watch-time in August (+0.3 share points vs. July), as football coverage helped drive a 4% bump for ABC affiliates and a 25% surge for ESPN. The viewing impact from Fox affiliates contributed to a 14% monthly uptick, leading #6-ranked Fox to represent 6.7% of TV (+0.2 points).
While the effects of a new football season will not be fully evident until September, its late-month impact was a clear indicator of what’s to come, Nielsen researchers reported.
When comparing the first and last weeks of the August interval (07/28/25-08/03/25 vs. 08/25/25-08/31/25), viewing to Fox affiliates was up 36%, ABC affiliates gained 29%, and ESPN surged 196%, which was due at least in part to a memorable season premiere of College GameDay.
What’s more, Disney’s share of TV started at 8.9% in the first week of the month, and concluded with 11.5% of TV in the final week.
This football-driven surge countered the back-to-school drop in viewing among school-aged audiences, with streaming viewership being the most impacted by this group, a dynamic that was previously described in the August report of The Gauge.
Top-ranked YouTube gave up 0.3 share points and finished the month with a 13.1% share of TV. Meanwhile, Netflix held steady in third, behind Disney in second, with 8.7% of television (-0.1 point) on the strength of owning the top four streaming titles of the month.
Beyond the top three, shares for NBCUniversal and Paramount remained even with July, finishing with 7.6% and 7.1%*, respectively. Like Disney and Fox, both NBCU and Paramount were buoyed by gains across their broadcast affiliates as the two also benefited from the return of football.
The August 2025 interval spanned five weeks, from 07/28/2025 through 08/31/2025. Nielsen reporting follows the broadcast calendar, with weekly intervals beginning on Monday.
