Samba TV: Majority of TV Time Spent on Streaming

In its 2025 U.S. State of Streaming report, Samba TV has revealed that streaming now accounts for 60 percent of all TV time for Americans.

Viewer preference for streaming continues to rise month-over-month, driven by shifting expectations around on-demand access and the rise of ad-supported viewing models. Over half of SVOD subscribers across top platforms use ad plans. Prime Video leads with 78 percent of subscribers on ad-supported plans, followed by Hulu and Peacock at 62 percent. Disney+ and Netflix show 36 percent on ad-supported plans.

“The rules of television are being rewritten now that streaming has become the substantial majority of viewership,” said Ashwin Navin, CEO and co-founder of Samba TV. “Streaming time now accounts for 60 percent of all TV time, showing that viewers have made a clear choice on their viewership preferences. They gather around stories that matter to them, wherever and whenever they choose to watch. As live sports, films and cultural moments have moved to streaming, publishing and advertisers have a critical opportunity to reach audiences with precision and purpose. The next era belongs to those who harness data, context and AI-driven intelligence to understand not just who is watching but why and to act on it in the moment.”

The report also indicates that 67 percent of viewership is on streaming for shows available on both streaming and linear, even if the first airing is on linear. “This redefines ‘appointment viewing’: the broadcast schedule is no longer the moment,” Navin said. “Culture is driven by the trends on social platforms that, in turn, drive audiences to streaming platforms. Every marketing playbook should focus on perfecting the interplay of social and streaming first, for both precision and scale.”

Ad-supported streaming, in particular, has become the dominant model, with over half of subscribers on leading platforms now choosing ad tiers. This lower cost enables U.S. households to maintain an average of 3.2 services.

Live sports remain the lifeline for linear TV, with linear broadcasting retaining significant audiences for NFL programming, particularly the Super Bowl and NFL Playoff games. That said, sports on streaming platforms are drawing in viewers. For Prime Video’s Thursday night football programming, 1.1 billion average minutes were spent watching each event. On Paramount+, 1.4 billion average minutes were spent watching each UEFA Champions League event.