Streamingcontinues to be a driving force for television use as the platform is miles ahead of other formats, particularly network TV, which continues to struggle to maintain viewership. This should come as no surprise to anyone paying attention to TV viewing trends, but what is surprising is that cable, which used to be a more dominant presence in the market, is also taking a hit when it comes to streaming viewing habits.
According to stats from Nielsen, viaThe Hollywood Reporter, July marked the sixth consecutive month that streaming brought in the bulk of television viewing, representing 47.3% of all TV use. That represents an increase over June, when it saw 46% of usage, and it’s also up year-to-year by six points (41.4%). Streaming hits such asSquid Game, which was viewed for 5.4 billion minutes on Netflix, andLove Island, which pulled in 5.3 billion minutes viewed on Peacock, helped propel streaming to these highs for July.
Where Does That Leave Cable and Network TV?
Cable, which was once a significant force for TV use, and is still viable, came in at 22.2% of television use last month, down from the 23.4% that it registered in June. This is due in large part to declines in news and sports coverage in July, two programming formats that tend to drive cable viewership nowadays. In terms of network TV, it’s a good news/bad news scenario for the broadcast networks. Network TV was relatively stable month to month (the good news), but it also hit a 4-year low of 18.4% in TV use (the bad news). Despite this, it was only down slightly from the 18.5% of June, so there is a bit of a silver lining.
The top streaming services by share of TV use include YouTube (13.4%), Netflix (8.8%), Disney (4.7%) and Prime Video (3.8%). It’s interesting to see the gap between the streaming services, even if it is just for July. For instance, Paramount (1.9%), Peacock (1.6%), and Warner Bros. Discovery (1.5%) don’t seem to make a dent compared to a behemoth like Netflix. Tubi (2.2%) and the Roku Channel (2.8%) seem to make a grander impression than some of the perceived bigger names behind some of the other platforms, but that could be because Tubi and Roku offer a free component that is enticing to TV watchers.
In terms of streaming titles, it’s a mix of the new (Squid Game) and legacy television (Grey’s AnatomyandAnimal Kingdom), which keep driving services like Netflix to success.Animal KingdomandGrey’s Anatomyhit 4 billion and 2.80 billion minutes viewed, respectively. That’s a remarkable number for any series, but especially good for shows that have been around for quite some time (Grey’s Anatomyalso gets an assist from Hulu). Netflix also had a big hit with Adam Sandler andHappy Gilmore 2, which pulled in 2.90 billion minutes viewed last month. Disney+ scored a hit withBluey(3.53 billion minutes viewed) while Peacock made an impression with the aforementionedLove Island(5.30 billion minutes viewed).
Needless to say, streaming will likely continue to be the choice for TV viewers while everyone else continues to fight for scraps.
