NEW YORK—Nielsen’s summary of TV viewing for July, The Gauge, showed streaming increasing its share to 28% while broadcast also gained viewers, with a slightly improved 25% share of July TV viewing.
In announcing the newest numbers, Brian Fuhrer, senior vice president of product strategy at Nielsen noted that streaming has been gaining about one percentage point a month, with a 26% share in May and a 27% share in June.
Fuhrer explained that in July, broadcast recaptured television viewers, growing a percentage point thanks to high-profile sporting events coupled with the opening weekend of the Olympics. This shift in viewing meant that cable gave up some ground while streaming also picked up a share point. This is potentially a precursor to August viewership behavior, which will reflect the full duration of the Olympics.
“Behind the scenes, sports also likely impacted streaming’s share,” Fuhrer said. “This includes many of the Olympics highlights clips, which were posted on YouTube, where we saw some minutes increase. We’ll stay tuned for next month when we’ll have the full impact of the Games to review.”
Among the streamers, Netflix led with 7%, followed by YouTube and YouTube TV with a 6% viewing share, Hulu and Hulu Live with 3%, Prime Video at 2% and Disney at 2%.
Overall broadcast and cable continued to dominate total viewing in July with a 62% share, slightly down from the 64% share they had in May.
