Streaming Services Set New Record in May According to Nielsen

The month of May was a big one for streaming, per Nielsen's monthly report The Gauge, as streaming took up 31.9% of total TV viewing, a new record. That compares to 36.5% on cable and 24.4% on broadcast television. The streaming number has risen over time, and reached 30% for the first time in April.

The top streamer was Netflix, with 6.8%, followed by YouTube (including YouTube TV) with 6.7%, Hulu (including Hulu Live) with 2.4%, Amazon Prime Video with 2.6%, Disney+ with 1.7%, and HBO Max with 1%. The “other streaming” category, however, led them all with 9.6%.

May tends to be a lower viewing month, Nielsen said, but streaming viewing increased, with broadcast and cable declining. The increase in streaming time was aided by the release of two major titles, “Obi-Wan Kenobi” on Disney+ and Season 4 Part 1 of “Stranger Things” on Netflix. While both highly anticipated shows only became available in the month’s final days, they made a significant difference in the May ratings. “Obi-Wan Kenobi” debuted two episodes on the 27, while “Stranger Things” put out seven of them at once on the 28, although more are coming in July.

“Disney+ attracted 2.5% of the total TV share on May 27, and Netflix claimed 9.0% on Saturday, May 28,” Nielsen’s analysis said.

Sports viewing was also way up in May, with NBA playoff games making up the six most-watched events of the month.

“The summer of 2022… may well turn out to be an inflection point in overall streaming adoption,” Nielsen’s SVP for product strategy Brian Fuhrer said, “not just with the existing platforms, but with all the new offerings that we’ve been looking at.”