For the second month in a row, streaming services have made television history with their unprecedented dominance. According to The Gauge from Nielsen, streaming accounted for a staggering 41.4% of TV viewing in July, surpassing all previous records. In fact, streaming levels increased by over 5% compared to June, resulting in a growth of more than one point (+1.1 pt.) and breaking their own record set just last month.
The start of the Summer Olympics in Paris brought an increase in TV viewing during the month of July. According to the July Gauge report, total TV usage rose by 2.3% compared to the previous month and 3.5% compared to the same time last year. Broadcast viewing also saw a slight increase, accounting for 20.3% of TV, which is a 5% increase from the previous year.
This is a significant improvement from last July when it reached its lowest recorded share at 20% of TV. The final week of July, which marked the beginning of Olympics coverage, resulted in a spike of broadcast viewership, with an average of over 22% of total TV being dedicated to broadcast programs. Notably, the top five and seven out of ten most watched telecasts in the July report were related to the Olympics, with NBC’s Sunday coverage on July 28 drawing in an impressive audience of 19 million viewers.
Additionally in July, YouTube surpassed all other streaming platforms by becoming the first to exceed 10% of total TV usage. The most popular streamer saw a 7% increase compared to last month, accounting for 10.4% of TV usage (+0.5 pt.). This follows YouTube’s achievement of 9.9% of TV viewing in June and solidified its position as the second largest distributor of TV content among all media platforms.
