Streaming has become a major part of television use, but the measurement depends on the screen, country, population and category being counted. The figures below cover U.S. TV-screen viewing, UK in-home video estimates and Nielsen’s evolving Mexico measurement, with observed results, estimates and forecasts identified separately.
Key Streaming Device Statistics
The most useful headline figures are:
- In June 2024, streaming represented 40.3% of total U.S. TV usage.
- From May to June 2024, U.S. streaming viewership increased 6%.
- In June 2024, broadcast represented 20.5% and cable 27.2% of U.S. TV usage.
- In July 2024, streaming reached 41.4% of U.S. TV viewing.
- In July 2024, YouTube accounted for 10.4% of U.S. TV usage.
- In July 2024, Peacock viewing increased 33% month over month in the United States.
- In September 2024, Netflix held 7.9% of U.S. TV usage.
- In September 2024, The Rings of Power generated 4.3 billion U.S. streaming viewing minutes.
- In September 2024, Bluey accumulated 4.2 billion U.S. streaming viewing minutes.
- In 2023, UK individuals aged 4 and over watched 4 hours 31 minutes of in-home video per day.
- In 2023, UK broadcaster video-on-demand viewing reached 20 minutes per person per day.
- In 2023, UK video-sharing-platform viewing reached 49 minutes per person per day.
- Between 2022 and 2023, measured broadcaster content declined from 61% to 57% of UK in-home video viewing.
- In 2023, SVoD and AVoD represented 14% of UK in-home video viewing.
- In 2023, TV sets accounted for 84% of total UK in-home video viewing.
- In 2023, video-sharing platforms represented 46% of UK 16–24-year-olds’ in-home video time.
- In April 2024, Disney represented 11.5% of total U.S. TV viewing in Nielsen’s distributor measure.
- In April 2024, YouTube ranked second among U.S. media companies with a 9.6% TV-viewing share.
- In the first updated June 2024 Mexico Gauge report, linear television represented 51.6% and streaming 17.6% of TV consumption across 28 cities.
Contents
- U.S. streaming device viewing share and records
- Streaming platforms and monthly growth
- Programs, sports and event-driven streaming
- UK daily viewing and connected-TV data
- Age-group streaming adoption and viewing differences
- Cross-platform measurement and international context
U.S. Streaming Device Viewing Share and Records
Nielsen’s The Gauge measures consumption occurring through a television screen. It is therefore a TV-screen usage measure, not a complete count of streaming on phones, tablets and computers.
| U.S. TV-screen category | Share or change | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Streaming | 40.3% of total TV usage | June 2024 |
| Broadcast | 20.5% of total TV time | June 2024 |
| Cable | 27.2% of total TV usage | June 2024 |
| Broadcast and cable combined | 47.7% of TV usage | June 2024 |
Streaming increased 6% from May to June 2024 and gained 1.5 percentage points of TV share. Overall TV usage rose 2.1% month over month and 1.3% year over year in June, while viewing by children ages 2–11 increased 16% from May.
The June 2024 streaming share exceeded cable’s previous single-category record of 40.1%, recorded in June 2021. These comparisons describe Nielsen’s historical TV-screen series rather than device ownership.
Source: Nielsen, “Time Spent Streaming Surges to Over 40% in June”.
Streaming Platform Statistics and Monthly Growth
July 2024 brought another increase in U.S. TV-screen streaming. Nielsen measured streaming at 41.4% of TV viewing, more than 5% above June and 1.1 percentage points higher than June’s share.
The platform results show why overall streaming share can move quickly when seasonal programming or major events change viewing patterns:
- YouTube accounted for 10.4% of TV usage in July 2024, with viewing up 7% from June.
- Peacock viewing increased 33% in July 2024, partly associated with the Olympics and Love Island USA.
- Amazon Prime Video viewing increased 12% from June to July 2024.
- The Roku Channel increased 10% in July 2024 and reached 1.6% of TV usage.
- Disney+ usage increased 9.2% in July 2024 and reached a platform-best 2.1% of TV usage.
These are different measures: a platform’s monthly change is not the same as its share of all TV usage. YouTube’s figure is also TV-screen viewing, not total YouTube use across all devices.
Source: Nielsen, “July Exhibits Rare Upswing in TV Viewing”.
Netflix held 7.9% of U.S. TV usage in September 2024. The figure is a TV-screen viewing share and should not be read as a subscriber or household-ownership rate.
Source: Nielsen, “The Gauge: NFL Scores in September”.
Programs, Sports and Event-Driven Streaming Statistics
Program-level viewing minutes demonstrate how a title or live event can affect streaming measurement without representing device penetration. In September 2024, the NFL game in São Paulo generated 2.6 billion viewing minutes in Nielsen’s U.S. streaming measurement and was the month’s 11th most streamed program.
Amazon Prime Video viewing rose 12% in September 2024, with Nielsen linking much of the increase to Thursday Night Football. Prime Video reached 3.6% of U.S. TV usage that month.
| September 2024 U.S. streaming result | Measured figure |
|---|---|
| The Rings of Power viewing | 4.3 billion minutes |
| Bluey viewing | 4.2 billion minutes |
| Disney+ viewing change | Up 5.2% from August |
| Disney+ TV-usage share | 2.5%, a platform best |
| The Roku Channel year-over-year viewing | Up 42% |
The wider September television rankings also show the importance of mixed measurement. NFL games occupied 14 of the 15 top broadcast telecasts, and the three leading NFL broadcast telecasts each exceeded 3 billion viewing minutes; those are broadcast-telecast results reported alongside streaming data, not streaming-only figures.
Source: Nielsen, “The Gauge: NFL Scores in September”.
UK Daily Viewing and Connected-TV Data
Ofcom’s Media Nations: UK 2024 uses Barb and related measurement to estimate in-home video viewing among UK individuals aged 4 and over. In 2023, the population watched 4 hours 31 minutes of in-home video per day, up 6 minutes, or 2%, from 2022.
| UK in-home video measure | 2023 result | Change or share |
|---|---|---|
| Total video viewing | 4h 31m per day | Up 6 minutes, or 2%, from 2022 |
| Broadcaster video on demand | 20 minutes per day | Up 29% |
| Video-sharing platforms | 49 minutes per day | Up 12% |
| SVoD and AVoD | 38 minutes per day | Up 6% |
| SVoD and AVoD share | 14% | Of in-home video viewing |
| TV-set share of viewing | 84% | Of total in-home video viewing |
Live TV declined 9% in 2023 compared with 2022. Measured broadcaster content, which includes live TV, recorded playback and broadcaster video on demand, fell from 61% to 57% of UK in-home video viewing.
Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ together represented 95% of UK SVoD/AVoD viewing in 2023. Ofcom groups subscription video on demand and advertising-supported video on demand because advertising tiers cannot always be separated.
Source: Ofcom, Media Nations: UK 2024.
Age-Group Streaming Adoption and Viewing Differences
UK age-group data shows that streaming behavior varies substantially by audience. These figures describe shares of in-home viewing or daily minutes, not ownership of a particular streaming device.
- Video-sharing platforms represented 46% of 16–24-year-olds’ UK in-home video time in 2023, and this group spent 1 hour 33 minutes per day with those platforms.
- Video-sharing platforms represented 40% of UK children’s in-home video time in 2023.
- Adults aged 25–34 were the heaviest UK SVoD/AVoD viewers in 2023, at 1 hour 5 minutes per day.
- SVoD/AVoD represented 28% of UK 25–34-year-olds’ total in-home video time in 2023.
- Less than 20% of UK 16–24-year-olds’ viewing was broadcaster viewing in 2023.
- UK SVoD/AVoD viewing grew by more than 10% year over year among 55–74-year-olds in 2023.
- UK SVoD/AVoD viewing grew by more than 10% year over year among children in 2023.
The device context also shifted. The share of UK in-home YouTube viewing occurring via TV sets rose from 29% in 2022 to 34% in 2023, while the TV-set share of SVoD/AVoD viewing rose from 81% to 85%.
Source: Ofcom, Media Nations: UK 2024.
Cross-Platform Streaming Measurement and International Context
Nielsen’s Media Distributor Gauge aggregates viewing across broadcast, cable and streaming for parent companies and distributors. In April 2024, Disney accounted for 11.5% of total U.S. TV viewing, with Disney+ and Hulu providing 42% of that company-level share.
| U.S. distributor or company | TV-viewing share | April 2024 measurement |
|---|---|---|
| Disney | 11.5% | Parent-company aggregation |
| YouTube | 9.6% | Second among media companies |
| NBCUniversal | 8.9% | Parent-company aggregation |
| Paramount | 8.8% | Parent-company aggregation |
| Warner Bros. Discovery | 8.1% | Parent-company aggregation |
| Netflix | 7.6% | Second-highest reported streaming distributor |
Fourteen U.S. media companies reached at least a 1.0% share in Nielsen’s first April 2024 Media Distributor Gauge. Because the measure combines different business structures, company shares should not be compared directly with a single platform’s The Gauge share without noting the definitions.
Source: Nielsen, “Nielsen Launches The Media Distributor Gauge”.
Mexico illustrates why measurement design matters. In the first updated June 2024 Gauge report covering 28 cities, linear television represented 51.6% and streaming 17.6% of TV consumption, based on an initial 450-household representative subsample.
That subsample represented 18.2 million households and 58.4 million people, assumed 80% internet penetration in the covered population, and was planned to expand to 900 households in the third quarter of 2024. The expansion was a forecasted panel plan, not a completed observation.
| Mexico measurement context | Population or panel |
|---|---|
| Updated 28-city subsample | 450 households initially |
| Planned Q3 2024 subsample | 900 households |
| 28-city population represented | 18.2 million households; 58.4 million people |
| Earlier laboratory panel | 200 broadband homes in three cities |
| Earlier panel population represented | 5.7 million households; 19.6 million people |
Nielsen explicitly distinguishes the earlier 200-home laboratory panel in Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey from the later all-TV-household streaming-transition subsample. The two populations are not directly comparable.
Source: Nielsen, “The Gauge Mexico evolves to offer insights from a more accurate streaming measurement”.