For the first time ever, streaming is more popular than traditional TV

Summary

Streaming surpassed combined cable and broadcast viewership in May, according to Nielson’s Gauge report.
Nielson’s data found that streaming accounted for 44.8 percent of TV viewership in the US, narrowly beating out TV and cable at 44.2 percent.
YouTube led streaming TV viewership with 12.5%, followed by Netflix at 7.5% and Disney at 5%.

It’s no secret that streaming has become the most popular way to watch TV today. With services like Netflix, Prime Video, and Disney+ available, there’s always something new and interesting to enjoy. However, in terms of total viewership numbers, streaming has never surpassed the combined viewership of traditional TV (cable TV and broadcast TV) — until now.

According to the latest Gauge report from Nielsen, streaming accounted for 44.8 percent of all TV viewership in the US in May, while cable TV represented 24.1 percent and broadcast TV 20.1 percent. Together, that gives broadcast and cable 44.2 percent of TV viewership, falling just short of streaming’s 44.8 percent.

This indicates that, for the first time ever, streaming is leading in TV viewership compared to both cable and broadcast. While streaming has consistently outperformed cable and broadcast individually for some time, this marks the first occasion in Nielsen’s Gauge report that it has surpassed both combined, marking a historic milestone.

“It’s fitting that this inflection point coincides with the four year anniversary of Nielsen’s The Gauge, which has become the gold standard for streaming TV measurement,” said Karthik Rao, Nielsen’s CEO. “It’s also a credit to media companies, who have deftly adapted their programming strategies to meet their viewers where they are watching TV — whether it’s on streaming or linear platforms.”

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Netflix is a global streaming service offering on-demand access to movies, TV shows, documentaries, and original content. Founded in 1997 as a DVD rental service, it transitioned to streaming in 2007 and now operates in over 190 countries.

Apple tv 4k 4th generation against a rainbow background.

Apple forgot to mention one of the biggest upgrades included in tvOS 26

It’s odd Apple didn’t bring attention to this.

Streaming has grown exponentially since 2021

YouTube is the most popular streaming service

Disney

According to Nielsen, streaming usage has surged by 71 percent since May of 2021, while cable usage has declined by 39 percent and broadcast usage by 21 percent.

Nielsen currently tracks 11 streaming platforms as part of its Gauge report, including Netflix, YouTube, Hulu, Prime Video, Disney+, Paramount+, The Roku Channel, Pluto TV, and more. In particular, Nielsen points out that “free services have been a major driver of streaming’s overall success.”

Unsurprisingly, YouTube currently leads the way in streaming (not YouTube TV, just regular YouTube), accounting for 12.5 percent of all streaming TV viewership, followed by Netflix with 7.5 percent, and Disney (including Disney+, ESPN+, and Hulu) at 5 percent.

While streaming is ahead of TV for the month of May, Nielsen notes that when football returns in the fall, along with new seasons of TV shows, traditional TV could likely see another bump, putting it ahead of streaming once again.

Frankly, I’m shocked streaming hadn’t surpassed traditional TV earlier, and it will be fascinating to see if it can maintain its lead going into the second half of 2025.