Nielsen: streaming viewing overtakes cable for the first time

Nielsen’s The Gauge: Nielsen’s Total TV and Streaming Snapshot. July 2022.

Following months of record-breaking streaming consumption in the US, streaming usage has surpassed cable for the first time.

According to Nielsen’s monthly total TV and streaming snapshot The Gauge, streaming represented a record 34.8% share of total television consumption in July with cable and broadcast at 34.4% and 21.6% respectively. It is not the first time that streaming usage has surpassed broadcast, but the first it has also exceeded cable viewing. 

What is clear however is that streaming is continuing to grow as consumers cut the cord. Broadcast and cable saw year-over-year decreases of 9.8% and 8.9% respectively, while streaming’s share grew by 22.6%.

Time spent streaming in July averaged nearly 191 billion minutes per week, and each of the five measurement weeks in July 2022 now account for five of the six highest-volume streaming weeks on record according to Nielsen.

Prime Video, Netflix, Hulu and YouTube each captured record-high shares in July after previously doing so in June. Netflix represented 8% of total US viewing time in July, with nearly 18 billion viewing minutes of Stranger Things.

Nielsen however does provide some caveats which soften the blow for the more traditional TV media. It notes that cable viewing is notably down year-over-year with the 2020 Summer Olympics boosting figures this time last year. It’s a similar story with the broadcast category, with viewing down on a monthly basis due to a typical lull in new content until the upcoming broadcasting season begins in September.