Americans now watch more stuff on TV from streaming services than either broadcast or cable TV.
Streaming platforms, led by Netflix, in July 2022 for the first time surpassed cable networks to claim the largest share of U.S. TV viewing for the month, according to new data from Nielsen. It was only a matter of time before the milestone was reached, as streaming usage has continued to climb while traditional TV declines amid the steady drip-drip-drip of cord-cutting losses.
For the month of July, streaming among American TV households represented a record 34.8% share of total consumption, while cable and broadcast came in at 34.4% and 21.6%, respectively. Streaming usage has surpassed that of broadcast before, but this is the first time it has also exceeded cable viewing.
Netflix again held the largest share of overall TV viewing among streaming platforms with 8.0% — a record high for the service. That was driven by nearly 18 billion viewing minutes of “Stranger Things 4” alone for July along with almost 11 billion minutes of combined viewing of “Virgin River” and “The Umbrella Academy.” In addition, Netflix original movies “The Sea Beast” and “The Gray Man,” starring Ryan Gosling, Ana de Armas and Chris Evans, contributed over 5 billion minutes, per Nielsen.
Hulu’s record 3.6% share for July 2022 was helped by the second season of “only Murders in the Building” and “The Bear,” which combined for about 3 billion minutes viewed. Amazon’s Prime Video’s 3.0% share was driven by new series “The Terminal List” and new episodes of “The Boys,” which garnered over 8 billion combined viewing minutes.
Source: Nielsen National TV Panel Data plus Streaming Video Ratings
