Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.
Broadcast TV has continued to see its usage grow in recent months, according to the latest data from Nielsen and its The Gauge metrics.
During October, 24% of all television viewing happened on broadcast television. That figure represents a 7% uptick compared to the previous month, marking the third consecutive month of growth. It is the largest monthly share the sector has had since January. The fall growth of broadcast television falls in line with the return of college football and the NFL, which both command many broadcast windows on weekends. The fall also marks the return of network TV dramas on ABC, CBS, NBC, and FOX, among others.
Broadcast TV was also helped by the 2024 World Series, which featured teams from New York and Los Angeles — the two largest markets — on FOX. More than 15 million viewers tuned into Game 1 of the series.
Despite the more than 3% gains for broadcast TV in recent months, it still lags behind cable and streaming. 26.3% of all television viewing continues to happen with cable television, while streaming accounts for 40.5%.
On the streaming front, 10.6% of all viewing happens on YouTube. That tops Netflix (7.5%), Amazon Prime Video (3.5%), Disney+ (2.4%) and Hulu (2.4%).
The Netflix figure is a drop of 4% compared to the previous month but still captured the top five streaming original programs during the month with a total of 4.4 billion minutes spent with the platform, according to Nielsen and The Gauge.
The Roku Channel reached new highs during the month, as it grew 12% up to 1.8% of all streaming viewing for the month.
