Broadcast television roared back in September, powered by the return of the NFL and college football. According to Nielsen’s latest Gauge report, the category posted a 20% month-over-month spike in viewership — compared to roughly 3% growth across all of TV — marking the largest monthly increase in volume and share since Nielsen began tracking in May 2021.
The football-fueled surge pushed broadcast to a 22.3% share of total television viewing, allowing it to edge past cable on an unrounded basis for the first time. Sports accounted for a major share of that growth, tripling from 11% of broadcast viewing in August to 33% in September.
Fifteen NFL telecasts across CBS, FOX and NBC topped last month’s most-watched broadcast, with September’s highest-rated game more than doubling August’s peak audience.
Cable also matched broadcast’s 22.3% share, driven by news and sports programming. News viewership increased 9% and represented more than one-quarter of all cable viewing, while sports gained 11%.
ESPN’s slate of Monday Night Football games dominated the top of the cable charts, joined by NFL Network’s first international game of the season to round out the top five telecasts.
The viewing rebound was particularly strong among younger audiences. Nielsen reported that broadcast viewing among adults ages 25–34 jumped 65%, while cable rose 16% within the same demographic — a sign that live sports continue to be one of the few appointment-viewing draws for younger viewers.
Even with the surge in traditional television, streaming maintained its dominance, capturing 45.2% of total TV usage in September. However, the category saw fewer breakout titles than earlier in the summer. Only 10 programs surpassed one billion weekly viewing minutes, compared to 18 in July.
YouTube led all streaming platforms with a 12.6% share, though usage declined 2% month over month as younger audiences returned to school. Netflix followed with 8.3%, buoyed by Wednesday, which racked up more than 7 billion viewing minutes for the month. Netflix’s animated film KPOP Demon Hunters placed second with 3.6 billion minutes viewed.
Disney’s combined services — Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ — delivered a 4.5% share to place third among streamers, while Prime Video held steady at 3.9%. Amazon also logged its most-watched Thursday Night Football game ever on September 11, as the Commanders-Packers matchup generated more than 3 billion minutes viewed.
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