A five-week measurement of November 2025 by Nielsen shows that live sports drove broadcast channels to their best “share of TV” in a year while also fueling viewer increases at streaming platforms such as NBCUniversal’s Peacock and CBS-aligned Paramount+.
According to the latest edition of “The Gauge,” which Nielsen provides monthly as a snapshot of total TV and streaming consumption, Broadcast TV “extended its momentum” in November, with viewership increasing 7% versus October to capture 23.2% of TV and outpace cable for a third consecutive month.
Broadcast gains were driven by a 30% monthly increase in sports viewing, powered by the concluding games of the 2025 World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays, along with NFL and college football across all “Big Four” networks.
Accounting for just 3% of broadcast content by duration, sports commanded 37% of all broadcast viewership in November and 6.4% of total TV usage—the highest share for the genre ever recorded in “The Gauge.”
Peacock posted the strongest monthly growth among streaming platforms in November, soaring 22% on the strength of its NFL “Sunday Night Football” coverage and Thanksgiving Day programming, including simulcasts of NBC’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and a prime-time NFL game.
Paramount+ jumped 18.4% month over month, driven by NFL games alongside the return of its original series “Landman.”
Most impactful to the overall November streaming landscape, to little surprise, was Netflix’s “Stranger Things,” whose nearly 12 billion viewing minutes propelled Netflix to a 10% monthly increase, adding 0.3 share points to finish with 8.3% of total TV.
The Roku Channel also posted a standout performance, rising 9% overall and benefiting from a 23% jump among viewers ages 25–34. The gains lifted the platform to a record 2.9% share of television.
Meanwhile, cable usage dipped 3% to a 20.5% share, exhibiting its lowest monthly total to date. While NFL games on ESPN remained top performers, the category felt the absence of the MLB playoffs, which caused the cable sports genre to retract by 42%, Nielsen reports. The category was buoyed slightly by holiday spirit, however, as the cable movie genre saw a 22% increase in viewership.
The November 2025 interval spanned five weeks, from 10/27/2025 through 11/30/2025. Nielsen reporting follows the broadcast calendar, with weekly intervals beginning on Monday.
