For the first time ever, streaming is now more popular than cable TV.
A new Nielsen report says that in May of this year, streaming accounted for 44.8% of TV watched versus 44.2% for cable and broadcast TV. It’s the only time streaming has ever outpaced regular television.
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The report says since 2021, streaming usage from the average person has increased by 71%.
Netflix is the biggest winner for streaming services proper, with 7.5% of the pie. Disney/Hulu are next, with 5% of all TV watched. Amazon Prime Video clocks in at 3.5%, the Roku Channel and Tubi both have 2.2% of viewers, HBO Max has 1.5%, and Peacock has 1.4%.
YouTube has the biggest number on the list, with 12.5%, although not all their content is TV. In the past four years, YouTube viewership has grown by 120%. Nielsen began tracking streaming data with their tool known as The Gauge four years ago.
“Itโs fitting that this inflection point coincides with the four year anniversary of Nielsenโs The Gauge, which has become the gold standard for streaming TV measurement,” Nielsen CEO Karthik Rao said in a statement. “Itโs also a credit to media companies, who have deftly adapted their programming strategies to meet their viewers where they are watching TV โ whether itโs on streaming or linear platforms.”
It seems likely that cable and broadcast will make a resurgence when sports season starts back up again. Regardless, the fact that streaming is now on the same level as TV proper is interesting on its own.