Streaming Hits Monthly Record in the U.S.

More than a third of time spent on television by American viewers was on streaming platforms in June, per new Nielsen data.

June saw the largest share for streaming since the inception of Nielsen’s The Gauge in May 2021, the research company said. Despite the summer traditionally being a slow month for viewership, usage was up almost 2 percent on a month-to-month basis, with streaming up 7.7 percent to reach 33.7 percent of viewing time. This is 6.3 points higher than in June 2021.

Netflix led in share of streaming viewing time at 7.7 percent, followed by YouTube at 6.9 percent, Hulu at 3.3 percent, Prime Video at 2.9 percent, Disney+ at 2 percent and HBO Max at 1 percent.

Disney+, Prime Video, Netflix and YouTube posted viewing records, Nielsen notes. Disney+ saw viewing minutes rise by 14.7 percent, while Prime Video was up 11.1 percent. YouTube gained 5.2 percent. Netflix, which premiered the first batch of episodes of the Stranger Things fourth season at the end of May, saw a 16.3 percent gain in minutes viewed.

Broadcast television, meanwhile, with the TV season over and a lack of new content, saw a 6.7 percent decline in viewership, with a share of 22.4 percent. On a year-over-year basis, cable viewing minutes fell 11.9 percent to reach a share of 35.1 percent.