It is not a good year for cable television. Yesterday, we reported that young adults in the United Kingdom prefer to use TikTok over watching television for entertainment. According to a new report today, streaming services in the United States have overtaken cable for the first time ever. These services include Netflix, YouTube, Apple TV+, and more.
In July, views preferred using streaming services as their primary source of entertainment
The data comes from Nielsen’s monthly Gauge platform rankings and was brought forth by The Hollywood Reporter. As per the survey, Streaming services gained more than six share points compared to July 2021, from 28.3% to 34.8%. On the other hand, cable’s market share was 34.4% and broadcast accounted for 21.6%. Other TV usages stood at 9.2%.
Cable slipped by 9% year-over-year and broadcast networks clipped by 10%. The publication notes that one of the reasons for streaming services racking up a significant number of views in that time period was the latest season of Netflix’s Stranger Things which resulted in 18 billion minutes of viewing time for the streaming service in July. Other titles including The Umbrella Academy and The Boys also helped aid the growth.
Cable (34.4 percent of TV use) and broadcast (21.6 percent), meanwhile, both hit their lowest points in the 14 months that Nielsen has been releasing its platform rankings. Cable is down by about 9 percent from the same point a year ago, while broadcast networks slipped by 10 percent. There’s some noise in that comparison — the Tokyo Olympics and delayed NBA and NHL playoff contests were airing on broadcast and cable outlets a year ago — but both platforms have been trending down for several months, coinciding with streaming’s steady rise.
The survey goes on to share the top streaming services for July in comparison with television:
- Netflix: 8 percent
- YouTube (including YouTube TV): 7.3 percent
- Hulu (including Hulu + Live): 3.6 percent
- Prime Video: 3 percent
- Disney+: 1.8 percent
- HBO Max: 1 percent
- All others: 10.2 percent
Notably, Apple’s own streaming service, Apple TV+ does not have a significant market share in comparison to other streaming services like Netflix and Disney+. However, as its catalog and user base grow, it will likely become more popular as well.
