Streaming Hits Record High in Total TV Time, but Streamers Shouldn’t Celebrate Until They Do It During Football
Streaming has undeniably come a very long way from simply being seen as another way to rent a movie. The era of pay-TV’s dominance over the entertainment landscape is certainly over, and on-demand streaming has played a huge part in its demise.
Data from the TV ratings firm Nielsen confirms just how far linear TV has fallen. According to Nielsen’s monthly Gauge report, linear TV fell below the 50% threshold of total TV usage in July for the first time in history. Meanwhile, streaming accounted for a record high 38.7% of TV usage during the month. Time spent streaming also increased 2.9% in July as compared to June.
Netflix continues to top all streaming services, garnering 8.5% of total TV viewing during the month. Viewing on Netflix grew by 4.2% over June, boosted by “Suits,” which the service licensed from Peacock and has done incredibly well on its new home. Nielsen reports the show saw nearly 18 billion viewing minutes in July.
Year-over-year, broadcast TV viewing fell 5.4% in July, and cable viewing dropped more steeply at 12.5%. Despite these figures, streamers are not likely to see their gains over traditional TV become permanent, thanks to a change in seasons that will likely help TV rebound in the short term.
That’s because the football season is about to begin. Both college football and the NFL return in earnest in September, and football is consistently one of the highest drivers of TV ratings there is. For example, “Sunday Night Football” is the most-watched primetime TV show among adults 18-49 for the past 13 years in a row.
Broadcast channels such as Fox, CBS, NBC, and ABC (for select “Monday Night Football” games) are still the best way to watch live NFL games, despite their growing availability on streaming. These channels also offer a wide variety of college football games every Saturday from top NCAA conferences and more reside on cable channels like ESPN.
There are more options to stream football games in 2023 than there were in 2022. NFL+ recently announced it was adding livestreams of the NFL Network and NFL RedZone channels to its service, giving fans a way to stream those channels without a pay-TV subscription for the first time. Peacock is getting streaming-exclusive NFL regular season and playoff games this year, and ESPN+ also has an exclusive game on its schedule.
Still, streaming won’t be able to claim ultimate victory over linear TV until it can continue to best such sources during football season. It’s a good bet that when the real games begin, ratings for “Suits” and other library titles will take a big dip. If strikes by Hollywood’s biggest writers’ and actors’ unions continue unabated this effect could be mitigated somewhat, but a prolongation of the strikes would also drive more viewers to live sports. Streaming has made impressive and historical gains on traditional television, but it’s not ready to declare ultimate victory just yet.
Peacock
Peacock is a subscription video streaming service from NBCUniversal that includes original shows, blockbuster movies, and classic television series. Peacock is home to “Yellowstone,” and “The Office,” as well as original hits like “Poker Face” and “Bel-Air.” You can also watch live sports including NFL, MLB, WWE, Olympics, Premier League, NASCAR, French Open, College Football and Basketball, and PGA Tour. Premium Plus subscribers can stream their local NBC feed in all 210 markets.