NEW YORK—A new Nielsen report highlights how Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) consumers are driving major shifts in digital commerce, sports engagement and media. Data shows the audience segment consists of avid consumers of sports programming, spending 15% more time watching live sports than the general population. The report also found that streaming now accounts for more than half of the time members of the demo spend watching TV.
Nielsen's latest 2025 report—“Breakthrough ROI: Investing in Asian American Audiences and Media”—also found that AANHPI adults are more digitally connected, spending 9 hours, 6 minutes a week logged on to their computers, almost an hour more than all U.S. adults.
Since January, streaming has dominated 53% of Asian Americans' total TV time, up from 45% last year. Very notably, one-fifth of that viewing (20%) is on YouTube—almost twice that of the total U.S. population.
“As digital media and commerce evolve, Asian American consumers are leading the charge, embracing interactive and shoppable ad experiences at higher rates than the general population,” Nielsen Senior Vice President of Diverse Insights and Intelligence Stacie M. de Armas said. “Marketers who recognize the importance of cultural connection in their digital strategies will build stronger relationships with this influential and engaged audience.”
As brands invest more in digital advertising—83% of marketers planned to shift spending to digital channels this year—AANHPI audiences are proving to be a key force, the researchers said. They are digital-first shoppers, with 43% having clicked on a social media ad, compared to 36% of the total U.S. population. In fact, Asian Americans spend nearly an hour more online than the total U.S. adult population, and are more likely to find ads on retailer websites helpful for discovering new products.
Another notable finding is that AANHPI audiences are watching more live sports than ever—spending 15% more time viewing than the general public and 33% more likely to subscribe to sports-specific streaming platforms. Sports podcast listenership is also growing fast, up 28% between 2022 and 2024, Nielsen reported.
In addition, these audiences are vital in amplifying major moments in sports, from the 2024 World Series—where Asian American viewership spiked 146%—to surging interest in women’s college basketball, according to Nielsen.
Likewise, AANHPI viewership of the 2024 NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship jumped nearly 70% year-over-year, while the WNBA Draft saw a 240% increase. This year, Natalie Nakase will become the first Asian American head coach in the WNBA, leading the new Golden State Valkyries, as players like Te-Hina Paopao, of Polynesian heritage, continue to build momentum with fans.
There's also growing excitement around global sports with strong Asian roots, especially cricket. Thirteen percent of U.S. adults now identify as cricket fans, fueled in part by the country's fast-growing Indian population. The 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, co-hosted by the U.S., drew record crowds, and cricket's Olympic debut in Los Angeles in 2028 promise even greater visibility, the research suggested.
As fandoms grow, so does the desire for representation: 37% of AANHPI sports viewers say they want more culturally relevant advertising during games—signaling a clear opportunity for brands to show up with authenticity, the report noted.
Other key highlights of the 2025 report include:
- 59% of AANHPI consumers expect brands to support causes they care about, compared to 51% of the total U.S.
- 70% of AANHPI millennial consumers will stop purchasing from brands that devalue their community.
- On podcasts, unaided brand recall for CPG advertisers is 80% for AANHPI listeners, compared to 59% overall.
- Asian Americans age 50-64 are 8% more likely than the general U.S, market to rely heavily on the internet to evaluate products before buying.
- AANHPI audiences over-index the total U.S. for share of time spent with Netflix (128) and Prime Video (198), which also have the highest percentage of programs featuring Asian talent at 39.4% and 35.5%, respectively.
Download the 2025 report "Breakthrough ROI: Investing in Asian American audiences and media" for more details and insights. Visit www.nielsen.com/asian-american to learn more.
