NEW YORK — How did the month of November look when it comes to eyeballs and viewer consumption, according to Nielsen? The measurement period unveiled “a complex television landscape defined by live sports, strategic streaming releases and the Thanksgiving holiday,” Nielsen said as it released its latest edition of The Gauge.
Nielsen’s November 2025 look at consumer use across all video platforms, the Media Distributor Gauge, is also notable for its hyperfocus on streaming and digital choices.
Paramount and Netflix each clocked double-digit growth over October, capitalizing on strong content slates and “disrupting” the Media Distributor rankings this month.
Paramount recorded a 14% increase in overall viewing in November and finished the month with its largest share of TV since April, capturing 8.9% of total watch-time and climbing to No. 3 in the Media Distributor Gauge rankings. Paramount’s 0.7-point gain was the largest among all distributors, and was fueled equally by its broadcast and streaming properties. CBS affiliates and Paramount+ each climbed over 18%, contributing 0.5 and 0.2 share points, respectively, to Paramount’s total.
Netflix also delivered a “robust” performance in November, notching this month’s second-highest viewing gain (up 10%) to add 0.3 share points and achieve 8.3% of TV. While the return of Stranger Things provided the largest viewing impact with nearly 12 billion viewing minutes on its own, the streamer also benefited from its depth of content. Netflix’s new original series The Beast in Me, and new “Frankenstein” film reimagined by Guillermo del Toro, combined for nearly 7 billion viewing minutes across the month.
Hallmark produced a 28% viewing gain in November and set the mark for the highest percentage viewing increase this month. Hallmark benefited from its signature slate of holiday movies and its original series, Mistletoe Murders, all of which led to 0.2 additional share points for 1.2% of total TV watch-time.
Despite the shifts below them, YouTube and Disney retained the top two rankings with 12.9% and 10.5% of TV, respectively. YouTube’s share of TV remained unchanged month-over-month. Disney dropped 0.9 share points, largely due to ABC affiliates and ESPN declines attributable to the carriage interruption from the YouTube TV dispute.
NBCUniversal (NBCU) posted a strong month with a 7% increase in overall viewing, capturing its largest total since October 2024 with 8.8% of TV viewing (+0.2 pts.). NBCU’s gains were driven by a 22% surge in streaming on Peacock, largely fueled by NFL Sunday Night Football coverage, Thanksgiving Day programming, and its new original drama series All Her Fault. Peacock achieved a non-Olympic monthly record 1.9% share of television in November, as reported in Nielsen’s The Gauge.
FOX navigated a month of disproportionate swings across its broadcast and cable properties in November. FOX broadcast affiliates were up 22% versus October, led by the Thanksgiving Day NFL matchup between the Green Bay Packers and host Detroit Lions; and Games 4 through 7 of the World Series.
On the cable side, Fox News Channel viewership was down 9% compared to last month, and FS1 was impacted by the absence of the MLB Postseason. Overall, FOX finished the month with a net gain of 2.4%, but due to the larger increase of overall TV usage (+5.5%), ceded 0.3 share points to finish with 8.1% of TV in November.
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.
