Advanced Television; Nielsen: Netflix drives US streaming growth in June

Story from Advanced Television:

In Nielsen’s 50th monthly report of The Gauge – a snapshot of total TV and streaming consumption in the US – streaming viewership surged again in June to represent 46 per cent of television usage. Time spent streaming was up 5.4 per cent over May, which was primarily driven by both a standout month for Netflix, and a seasonal influx in viewing from school-aged audiences.

Netflix recorded the largest monthly uptick among streaming platforms in June, posting a 13.5 per cent viewing increase over May and adding 0.8 share points to command 8.3 per cent of TV. Netflix’s performance was so strong, it accounted for 42 per cent of streaming’s total monthly gain. The considerable upswing for Netflix was powered by a slate of popular titles, including its original series Ginny & Georgia, which was the most-streamed title of the month with 8.7 billion viewing minutes. The ‘Netflix Effect’ was also in full view with the immediate popularity of acquired series Animal Kingdom and Blindspot, which earned the second and third most-streamed titles in June and combined for 11.4 billion viewing minutes (5.71 billion and 5.69 billion, respectively). Finally, Netflix rounded out the month with the release of the third season of Squid Game, which generated nearly a billion viewing minutes—per day—across the series in the final three days of the June interval.

Peacock was a close second to Netflix from a monthly increase perspective, notching a 13.4 per cent usage uptick. Peacock’s increase was driven by the new season of its original series Love Island USA, which garnered 4.4 billion viewing minutes and was the fourth most-streamed title of the month. Peacock ultimately gained a tenth of a share point to finish with 1.5 per cent of TV in June, up 0.3 points compared to June 2024.

Kids and teens were the other main driver of streaming’s share shift, as well as for the overall increase in total television usage, which was up 3 per cent over May. With more time to spend in front of the TV, total usage among 6-17 year-olds was up 27 per cent versus last month, and streaming accounted for two-thirds (66 per cent) of their total time spent with TV in June. Not coincidentally, Netflix and Peacock both saw the largest month over month increases from the 6-17 year old group, with viewing from that cohort jumping 32 per cent and 37 per cent, respectively, versus May.

Also notable among this school-aged demographic was its contribution to the Other category. While ‘Other’ contains a variety of sources, the main contributions come from video game console usage and set top box usage. The Other category was up 14 per cent overall versus May, but among 6-17 year-olds, the increase was much more significant, capturing a 41 per cent bump.

Though broadcast and cable each exhibited declines in overall viewing in June, there were a few bright spots. For broadcast, the NBA Finals on ABC represented the top seven telecasts of the month and helped lift broadcast sports viewership by 17 per cent compared to May. In addition to the seven finals games, ABC took each of the top 12 telecasts in June, including the NBA Trophy Presentation and ABC World News Tonight. Cable also benefited from NBA viewership, as the NBA Conference Finals on ESPN and TNT ranked as the top two cable telecasts. A busy news cycle also drove cable news viewing up 12 per cent versus May, and feature film viewing also trended upward. Cable also benefitted from special programming, including the Army 250 Parade on FOX News Channel which ranked fifth among cable programmes with 2.8 million viewers, and Goodnight and Good Luck on CNN, which was seventh among cable programmes in June with 2.4 million viewers.

The summer lull in traditional television viewing was evident in June, however, and the combined share of broadcast and cable fell from 44.2 per cent of TV in May to 41.9 per cent in June. On the whole, broadcast viewing was down 5 per cent to represent 18.5 per cent of total TV, marking the first time the category has fallen below a 20 per cent share. Cable viewing was fairly flat compared to May, but the category still lost 0.7 share points due to the larger increase in overall TV usage and finished June with 23.4 per cent of TV.