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Americans love football, whether it’s the NFL or NCAA. And that couldn’t be more clear after the latest Nielsen data shows The Walt Disney Company was helped by the sport’s return.
In the September Media Distributor Gauage, which features the total TV usage by media company, Disney vaulted to the top of the rankings, taking up 11.3% of all streaming video usage during the month. That figure represents a 17% increase and 1.8 share points higher than what it saw in August. ESPN (+101%) and ESPN2 (+165%) saw triple-digit increases in audience sizes during the month, while ABC was up 25% during the month.
Other companies with college football and NFL properties also saw gains, with FOX seeing an 18% uptick, and Amazon Prime Video seeing growth of 13%. Amazon Prime Video accounted for 3.7% of all television viewing during the month, which was a new record for the streaming provider. FOX’s overall share of television viewing during the month grew by 1.3 points to 7.3%.
NBCUniversal saw a decline of 4.1 share points during the month, despite its connections with the NFL, Big Ten, and Notre Dame. However, that drop can likely be attributed to the record-breaking numbers the company saw during the conclusion of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris during the August rankings. The company was also with a premium live event from WWE on the Peacock streaming service during the month.
The usage of YouTube remained unchanged in September, as the digital video provider accounted for 10.6% of all viewing during the month.
