Mumbai: In June, streaming captured 33.7 per cent of total television consumption in the US, according to The Gauge, which is Nielsen's monthly total TV and streaming snapshot. This is streaming's largest share of TV usage to be measured by The Gauge since its inception in May 2021. Conversely, while viewership for broadcast and cable is traditionally lower during the summer months, June represented the smallest share yet for the formats, which totaled 22.4 per cent for broadcast and 35.1 per cent for cable.
Total time spent watching TV in June increased slightly (+two per cent) from May, bolstered by 8 per cent uptick in streaming volume over the same interval. Time spent streaming jumped by 23.5 per cent on a year-over-year basis, allowing the digital format to add six percentage points to its share of TV in 12 months.
This considerable increase in streaming had a similar effect on streaming platforms, four of which saw record-high viewing shares in June: Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, and YouTube (including YouTubeTV). Viewers spent 16 per cent more time watching Netflix than the previous month, allowing Netflix to gain a full share point from May and capture 7.7 per cent of total TV viewing—the largest month-to-month growth for a streaming platform. Compared to June 2021, all reported streaming platforms in The Gauge have seen significant growth in viewing, led by Amazon Prime Video (+31.9 per cent), Disney+ (+22 per cent), and Netflix (+18.1 per cent).
While cable viewing in June fell two per cent from the previous month, the category lost 1.4 share points in TV usage over the same period. Cable continues to show some of the largest year-over-year shifts of any viewing category, dropping five percentage points and -11.9 per cent in viewing compared to June 2021.
Due to the conclusion of the traditional broadcast TV season, time spent watching broadcast was down 6.7 per cent in June compared to May, and the share of viewing declined 2.1 percentage points. While these declines are fairly typical for this time of year, broadcast viewing this month was down 3.9 per cent compared to June 2021, and a full share point lower.
