Time spent streaming reached 40.3% of total TV usage in June. That’s the largest share of TV time ever, according to the latest installment of “The Gauge,” Nielsen’s monthly snapshot of total broadcast, cable and streaming consumption that occurs through a television screen.
Its a milestone, marking a new high since Nielsen debuted “The Gauge” in May 2021.
It’s slightly higher than June 2021, when it reached 40.1% of TV.
In particular, four streaming platforms notched double-digit usage growth in June, with more than 20% or more attributable to viewers 2-17.
- Disney+ (+14.8%)
- Tubi (+14.7%)
- Netflix (+11.8%)
- Max (+11.0%)
Netflix gained the most share of TV usage (+0.8 pt.) and climbed to 8.4% of TV, Nielsen adds.
Then, there is YouTube, which hit 9.9% of TV as Tubi reached 2.0% of TV. Each are high watermarks for the platforms.
With respect to overall TV usage, time spent watching TV saw its first monthly increase since January 2024 — up 2.1% vs. May. Year over year, time spent watching TV was up 1.3%. And, in a sign that school’s out for the summer, younger viewers (2-17) exhibited the largest upticks in usage compared with all other age demographics.
While the streaming story is strong, just how did broadcast television fare during the sixth month of 2024?
Broadcast accounted for 20.5% of TV in June and Cable totaled 27.2% of TV.
What does this mean?
The broadcast category lost 1.8 share points versus May and cable fell by 1.0 point, bringing the two to a combined 47.7% of overall TV this month.
The top seven most-watched broadcast telecasts this month—all of which aired on ABC—included the NBA Finals covering the top five, followed by ABC’s simulcast of CNN’s Presidential Debate, and Game 7 of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals.
NBC’s Sunday night broadcast of the women’s gymnastics Olympic Trials settled into the 8th slot among top telecasts with 7.4 million viewers, foreshadowing one of the summer’s biggest TV events.
Cable also saw big viewership numbers from the CNN Presidential Debate: The simulcasted debate claimed the top two cable telecasts of the month, with CNN leading the pack with over 10 million viewers, followed by Fox News Channel with 9.5 million.
“The wildcard for traditional TV as we move into July and August will be the Summer Olympics, whose widely covered quadrennial events have historically drawn sizable audiences across both broadcast and cable networks,” Nielsen says.
