Broadcast & Streaming Achieve Historic Month in November

According to Nielsen’s The Gauge, November 2025 delivered a 5.5 percent monthly increase in total TV and streaming usage.

Broadcast’s viewership increased 7 percent versus October to capture 23.2 percent of TV and outpace cable for a third consecutive month. Broadcast gains were driven by a 30 percent monthly increase in sports viewing, driven by the end of the MLB World Series, plus NFL and college football. Despite accounting for just 3 percent of broadcast content by duration, sports commanded 37 percent of all broadcaster viewership in November and 6.4 percent of total TV usage, the highest share for the genre ever recorded in The Gauge.

Sports also had an effect in streaming. Peacock posted the strongest monthly growth among streaming platforms in November, rising 22 percent on the strength of its NFL Sunday Night Football coverage and Thanksgiving Day programming. Peacock also benefited from the new original drama series All Her Fault, which generated 2.4 billion minutes across the month. Paramount+ jumped 18.4 percent month-over-month, driven by NFL games and the return of its original series Landman. Netflix was propelled to a 10 percent monthly increase, leading the streamer to finish with 8.3 percent of total TV and a record 2.9 percent share of television, due to the debut of Stranger Things season five, which generated 12 billion viewing minutes.

Overall, streaming usage grew 8 percent in November and captured 46.7 percent of total TV watch time. The month also featured five of the top ten most-streamed days ever recorded, led by Saturday, November 29, which now ranks second all-time with 47.6 billion streamed, behind the 51 billion minutes clocked on Christmas Day 2024. Netflix’s Stranger Things was most impactful to the overall November streaming landscape.

Cable usage, meanwhile, dipped 3 percent to a 20.5 percent share, exhibiting its lowest monthly total to date. While NFL games on ESPN remained top performers, the category felt the absence of the MLB playoffs, which caused the cable sports genre to retract by 42 percent.