Sports Boosts Disney & FOX Shares in August

The return of college sports helped boost viewing shares for Disney and FOX in the August edition of Nielsen’s Media Distributor Gauge.

YouTube remains at the top with a 13.1 percent share, while Disney rose to 9.7 percent of watch time as ABC affiliates and ESPN were lifted by college football. FOX also saw gains, rising to 6.7 percent.

The boost from sports helped to offset the drop in viewing among school-aged audiences. That impact was felt by YouTube and Netflix, which had an 8.7 share of viewing. NBCUniversal and Paramount were flat at 7.6 percent and 7.1 percent, respectively.