NEW YORK—The relative TV viewing shares of broadcast, cable and streaming remained unchanged in August, according to Nielsen’s TV Gauge.
Cable had 38% of total viewing (unchanged from July and down from 39% in May), followed by streaming at 28% (unchanged from July and up from 26% in May) and broadcast with 24% (unchanged from July and down from 25% in May).
Among the streamers Netflix led with 7% of viewing (up from 6% in May), followed by YouTube (6% in August and unchanged from May), Hulu (3% in August and flat from May), Prime Video (2% in August and unchanged from May) and Disney (2% of August and up from 1% in May).
Streaming had seen three months of consecutive growth before flattening in August.
While the August viewing shares remained stable Nielsen noted that there were two strong undercurrents of change: the revival of a largely in-person school season and one of the highest-profile events in sports, The Olympics.
Nielsen noted that while streaming overall was relatively flat, viewership among back-to-school-aged kids 6-17 decreased by 7.5% since July according to Nielsen’s Streaming Video Ratings.
Despite the academic year’s impact, more adult-oriented streaming platforms did see gains in the “Other Streaming” category, increasing by 1 share point.
Total TV use was also up about 0.5%, with broadcast showing gains of 2.9%. The Olympics were a driver of the broadcast boost, dominating television rankings each night they aired. Other notable sporting events in August included the “MLB Field of Dreams” game on Broadcast and the “NFL Hall of Fame” game on Cable.
