Nielsen’s The Gauge: Time Spent Streaming Surges to Over 40 Percent

According to Nielsen’s June 2024 report of The Gauge, time spent streaming in the U.S. climbed to 40.3 percent of total TV usage, notching the highest share of TV ever reported in The Gauge.

Across streaming platforms, four saw double-digit usage growth: Disney+ (14.8 percent), Tubi (14.7 percent), Netflix (11.8 percent) and Max (11 percent), all with 20 percent or more attributable to younger viewers. Additionally, most streaming services saw shares that were near or equal to previous platform bests, while YouTube and Tubi both set high marks, with 9.9 percent and 2 percent of TV, respectively.

Streaming viewership increased 6 percent compared with May, and the category added 1.5 share points to finish June at a record-setting 40.3 percent of TV. As streaming makes up a larger share of younger viewers’ television time, the category received a disproportionate bump from the 2-to-17 age demographic, including a 16 percent increase in viewing from kids 2 to 11.

Netflix added almost a full share point in June (0.8 pts.) and increased to 8.4 percent of total TV, just a tenth of a share point below its platform best 8.5 percent, which it set in July 2023. Netflix saw considerable viewership from this month’s top two streaming titles: the original series Bridgerton led the way with 9.3 billion viewing minutes, and Your Honor, Bryan Cranston’s Showtime and Paramount+ import, had the second highest total with 7.5 billion minutes across Netflix and Paramount+. Also garnering notable viewership in June, Prime Video’s original series The Boys had a new season help drive 4 billion viewing minutes, and House of the Dragon, the HBO network series on Max, totaled 3.4 billion minutes on the streamer.

Broadcast garnered 20.5 percent of total TV time in June, seeing some benefit from viewing increases of 26 percent in sports and 5 percent in news. This comes as a result of the top seven most-watched broadcast telecasts this month—all of which aired on ABC—including the NBA Finals covering the top five, followed by ABC’s simulcast of CNN’s Presidential Debate and Game 7 of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals. NBC’s Sunday night broadcast of the women’s gymnastics Olympic Trials was in the eighth slot among top telecasts with 7.4 million viewers.

The cable category totaled 27.2 percent of TV usage in June, also seeing high viewership numbers from the CNN Presidential Debate. The simulcasted debate claimed the top two cable telecasts of the month, with CNN leading with over 10 million viewers, followed by Fox News Channel with 9.5 million. Cable’s “general drama” and “feature film” genres were each up about 6 percent from last month, but viewing in the cable sports genre declined 35 percent as both the NBA and NHL concluded their seasons with broadcast televised events.

Traditional linear TV generally exhibits a lull in viewership during the summer months, and both broadcast and cable recorded fairly sharp declines in their share of TV usage in June. The broadcast category lost 1.8 share points, and cable fell by 1 point, bringing the two to a combined 47.7 percent of overall TV this month.