Streaming Share Reaches All-Time High with 38.8% of TV.
Kentucky Derby on NBC Tops Broadcast Telecasts.
Bridgerton on Netflix Leads Streaming with 5.5 Billion Viewing Minutes.
NEW YORK – June 18, 2024 – Nielsen’s May 2024 report of The Gauge™ revealed a powerful Convergent TV win for Young Sheldon, with 6 billion viewing minutes for the month across broadcast, cable and streaming. After seven seasons on CBS, Young Sheldon concluded its successful run in a series finale which drew 11.74 million viewers (L+7). The sitcom consistently garners considerable viewership in syndication as well, which includes runs on cable networks like TBS and Nick-At-Nite, and broad streaming availability on Paramount+, Netflix and Max. The 6 billion viewing minutes captured by Young Sheldon in May were split almost exactly in half between traditional linear channels and streaming platforms.
Additionally, May marked record highs for streaming’s share of TV usage, as the category accounted for 38.8% of TV, and for streaming platforms Tubi with 1.8% of TV usage and The Roku Channel with 1.5%.
Typical for this time of year, overall TV usage was down just slightly on a monthly basis (-2.4%), but a year-over-year comparison showed a slight increase in time spent watching TV in May (+1.4%). Across viewing categories, streaming exhibited the most growth, adding 0.4 pt. to its share of TV usage to record a new high watermark of 38.8%. Streaming usage climbed 8% compared with May 2023, and the category has added 2.4 share points to its share of TV.
FAST platforms (Tubi, The Roku Channel, PlutoTV) continued their momentum and each gained 0.1 pt. in May, culminating in a combined 4.1% share of TV this month. In addition to hitting platform-high shares, Tubi and The Roku Channel also showed significant year-over-year growth with Tubi usage up 43% and The Roku Channel up 36% compared with May 2023.
YouTube continued its run as the top streaming platform and tied its previous platform-best share of 9.7%, which it set in March 2024. Behind YouTube was Netflix, which maintained a 7.6% share of TV and owned this month’s most watched streaming title: Bridgerton. Netflix released the first four episodes of Bridgerton’s third season on May 16, and by month’s end the iconic Netflix original captured over 5.5 billion viewing minutes.
Broadcast viewing was elevated by “finale season” and in total the category added 0.1 pt. to account for 22.3% of TV in May. Replicating its 2023 success, the Kentucky Derby on NBC repeated as the top broadcast telecast in May with 16 million viewers—over 1M more than a year ago. Following two consecutive months of growth, cable viewing dipped 0.9 pt. to 28.2% of overall TV usage. Despite NBA playoff games accounting for the top six cable telecasts in May, the conclusion of the NCAA basketball tournament combined with fewer televised sporting events in general contributed to a larger drop in cable viewing.
The measurement interval for May 2024 was 04/29/24 through 05/26/24.
About The Gauge™
The Gauge™ is Nielsen’s monthly snapshot of total broadcast, cable and streaming consumption that occurs through a television screen, providing the industry with a holistic look at what audiences are watching. The Gauge was expanded in April 2024 to include The Media Distributor Gauge, which reflects total viewing by media distributor across these categories. Read more about The Gauge methodology and FAQs.
About Nielsen
Nielsen shapes the world’s media and content as a global leader in audience measurement, data and analytics. Through our understanding of people and their behaviors across all channels and platforms, we empower our clients with independent and actionable intelligence so they can connect and engage with their audiences—now and into the future. Nielsen operates around the world in more than 55 countries.
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