New data shows that in May, streaming (44.8%) passed the combined share that broadcast and cable TV had (44.1%) for the first time in the four years of Nielsen’s Gauge index. It was the largest share that streaming has had on its own to date. Broadcast TV alone was 20.1%, while cable TV was 24.1% last month.
Six streaming services are now reported in Nielsen’s list of platforms that exceed a full share point of TV usage. Netflix has led those platforms for four consecutive years, jumping 27% since May 2021. YouTube (excluding YouTube TV) is up over 120% during the same period and represented 12.5% of all TV viewing in May, its fourth straight monthly share gain and the best share of TV for any streaming platform on record.
Disney, which encompasses ESPN+, Hulu and Disney+ (with the ESPN DTC platform coming this fall), had 5% of all TV watching in May. That’s a point-and-a-half ahead of Prime Video.
There are now three Free Ad-Supported Streaming Television (FAST) platforms that have reached the reportable threshold for Nielsen’s reports -- PlutoTV, Roku Channel and Tubi (combining for 5.7% of total TV viewing in May). That figure is larger than any single broadcast TV network last month.
Why are more sports considering Roku Channel as a spot for live games? The platform by itself in May (2.2% of TV viewing) was bigger than Paramount+/Pluto TV (2.2%), Max/Discovery+ (1.5%) and Peacock (1.4%)
