American television habits have evolved considerably in recent years, with broadcast and cable TV losing popularity while their digital descendants in the streaming world—platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Max and Disney+—take an increasing share of today's TV viewing audiences.
But for the first time in history, according to recent data released by Nielsen, the share of Americans who watch TV via a streaming service now exceeds those who watch traditional broadcast or cable TV combined.
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| More Americans now watch streaming content than broadcast or cable TV combined. |
According to Nielsen, streaming in May accounted for 45 percent of total-day viewing among Americans, compared to 44 percent for broadcast and cable TV and 11 percent dedicated to other sources, including video on demand, audio streaming, gaming and DVD playback.
When it comes to what streaming platforms Americans are watching most, YouTube leads the pack at 13 percent, followed by Netflix (8 percent), Disney (5 percent), Prime (4 percent), the Roku Channel (3 percent), Tubi (2 percent), Warner Bros. Discover (2 percent) and Peacock (1 percent).
According to Nielsen's findings, total streaming use among Americans ticked up half a percentage point since April alone. Among the remaining Americans who still attribute most of their viewing time to broadcast or cable TV, broadcast comprised 20 percent of viewing in May and cable accounted for 24 percent of viewing, according to the report.
YouTube is the clear winner in the streaming wars, witnessing viewership gains of more than 120 percent since 2021, according to Nielsen. Netflix has also seen its viewership grow by 27 percent during that time. Additional growth can be attributed to the rise of FAST channels (or Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV, where content is supported by advertising) such as Tubi, which has soared in popularity in recent years.
The streaming migration has largely been driven by younger viewers: According to a Statista study last year, 50 percent of Americans between the ages of 18 to 24 don't watch any traditional TV at all anymore. But it appears that older Americans are now climbing on the streaming bandwagon as well. May data from Nielsen found that YouTube traffic from users 65 and over had nearly doubled in the last year alone. And February findings from marketing agency Creating Results discovered that 88 percent of Americans ages 55 and over now use YouTube on a weekly basis.
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