Nielsen: Streaming’s Share of TV Usage Reaches All-Time High

Nielsen’s The Gauge report for May showed that the month marked record highs for streaming’s share of TV usage, as the category accounted for 38.8 percent of TV, and for the streaming platforms Tubi and The Roku Channel.

In line with trends for this time of year, overall TV usage was down just slightly on a monthly basis (down 2.4 percent), but a year-over-year comparison showed a slight increase in time spent watching TV in May (up 1.4 percent).

Across viewing categories, streaming saw the most growth, adding 0.4 pt. to its share of TV usage to record a new high watermark of 38.8 percent. Streaming usage climbed 8 percent compared with May 2023, and the category has added 2.4 share points to its share of TV.

FAST platforms (Tubi, The Roku Channel, Pluto TV) continued to gain momentum, each notching up 0.1 pt. in May, culminating in a combined 4.1 percent share of TV this month. Tubi hit a high with 1.8 percent of TV usage, as did The Roku Channel with 1.5 percent. In addition to hitting platform-high shares, Tubi and The Roku Channel also showed significant year-over-year growth, with Tubi usage up 43 percent and The Roku Channel up 36 percent compared with the year-ago period.

YouTube maintained its run as the top streaming platform and tied its previous platform-best share of 9.7 percent (which it set in March 2024). Second to YouTube was Netflix, which maintained a 7.6 percent share of TV and owned this month’s most-watched streaming title: Bridgerton. The Netflix original captured over 5.5 billion viewing minutes in May.

Young Sheldon, meanwhile, saw 6 billion viewing minutes for the month across broadcast, cable and streaming. After seven seasons on CBS, Young Sheldon concluded its successful run in a series finale, which drew 11.74 million viewers (L+7). The 6 billion viewing minutes captured by Young Sheldon in May were split almost exactly in half between traditional linear channels and streaming platforms.