Streaming Ratings Slip as Kids Go Back to School; How Big of a Bump Can Max Expect from Adding Live Sports?
The transition from summer to fall always leads to a ratings boost for linear TV. That’s the case again this year, as Nielsen's monthly Gauge report on TV and streaming ratings shows that cable and broadcast climbed above the 50% threshold of all TV watched in the United States in August.
Ratings for August show that news and sports helped linear TV reach 50.6% of total TV viewing last month. Among streamers, Peacock was the biggest gainer, rising to 1.2% of all TV watched while other streaming platforms like Max and Tubi lost viewership during the month. Overall, the streaming category slipped 0.4 percentage points as compared to July, when it hit a record high of TV viewing time.
One of the biggest reasons streaming usage dipped in August was the return of the school year. Nielsen’s data shows that approximately 80% of the drop was thanks to decreased streaming use from kids age 2-17, while cable’s gains were driven by presidential debates and the arrival of the NFL preseason..
The NFL’s Hall of Fame game was one of the reasons Peacock did so well in August, as the platform streamed the game simultaneous with its linear broadcast on NBC. Peacock also benefitted from the release of “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” on Aug. 3, as well as the WWE SummerSlam event.
It may surprise some observers to see Peacock nipping so closely at Max’s heels in this latest edition of The Gauge. Max’s catalog of prestige TV and top-rated movies objectively outclasses Peacock’s current on-demand library, but the volume and quality of live sports on Peacock is higher than any other subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service on the market. In addition to weekly “Sunday Night Football” contests, Peacock hosts college football games from the Big Ten and Notre Dame, English Premier League soccer, auto racing, and will offer every single event from the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
That’s why the addition of live sports to Max could be just the ticket for the service to increase its lead over streamers like Peacock once again. Max’s parent company Warner Bros. Discovery holds an impressive arsenal of live sports rights, including big packages of games from the NBA and NHL. The company reportedly plans to offer live sports on Max for free initially, and likely won’t charge users more to watch sports games on the service until February.
WBD officials are reportedly targeting the MLB playoffs as the start date for the offering of sports on Max. The playoffs are currently scheduled to begin on Tuesday, Oct. 3, so if WBD sticks to that plan it could make an official announcement along those lines any day.
It will likely take some time for customers to get used to the idea that Max will be carry live sports. That’s why the move to provide them to users for free is such a shrewd one, and it will help that WBD has such high-profile events to put on the service. On the other hand, users might flock to live sports on Max more quickly than they would under normal circumstances this year, as continuing strikes by Hollywood writers and actors may leave viewers desperate to find something new to stream.
Max
Max is a subscription video streaming service that gives access to the full HBO library, along with exclusive Max Originals. There are hubs for content from TLC, HGTV, Food Network, Discovery, TCM, Cartoon Network, Travel Channel, ID, and more. Watch hit series like “The Last of Us,” “House of the Dragon,” “Succession,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” and more. Thanks to the B/R Sports add-on, users can watch NBA, MLB, NHL, March Madness, and NASCAR events.