Roku Channel passes Tubi as the most-viewed free streaming service
Roku Channel passes Tubi as the most-viewed free streaming service
Nielsen’s monthly ‘The Gauge’ report for November shows streaming nabbed the largest share of overall TV viewership it has ever captured.
The presidential election dominated headlines in the month of November, but even it couldn’t pull viewers’ attention away from streaming for long. That’s according to data from Nielsen, which released its monthly “The Gauge” report on Tuesday. It showed that in November, streaming captured the largest share of total TV viewing in history, and that The Roku Channel took the No. 1 overall spot among free streamers in terms of viewing time.
Key Details:
- Streaming captured 41.6% of all TV viewing hours in the month of November.
- The Roku Channel attracted 1.9% of all TV viewed, passing Tubi as the top free streamer.
- YouTube reached a new record during the month, drawing 10.8% of all TV viewership by itself.
As viewers sought shelter from the bombardment of election news and political ads, streaming offered a welcome safe haven last month. Streaming accounted for 41.6% of all TV watched during the month, the highest number it has ever reached. Cable drew the second-largest share of viewers with 25%, and broadcast TV came in third at 23.7% of all TV watched.
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Big winners for the month among streamers include Netflix, which peaked at 8.5% of all TV watched in the week of its Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson boxing match; Prime Video, which set a new personal best viewership mark of 3.7% during November; and YouTube, which accounted for 10.8% of all TV watched, a new record high for any streaming service.
Perhaps the biggest winner of the month was The Roku Channel. This free, ad-supported streaming service drew 1.9% of all TV viewing hours, which set a new record for Roku and allowed the streamer to surpass Tubi as the most-watched free service of them all.
The results are in keeping with the lofty ambitions Roku has for itself in the future. A company executive spoke this week about the desire to see Roku hit 100 million active user accounts by 2026, and getting more devices into more homes gives the company that much more opportunity to lure viewers to The Roku Channel.
The data from Nielsen could also be good news for potential buyers of Roku. Analysts believe that Roku could be ripe for acquisition, and having an advertising platform like The Roku Channel that can draw the eyes of so many viewers would be a definite asset to Amazon or another company that’s thinking about buying the whole operation.
The streaming segment has been capturing more than 40% of the total TV viewing share since June, leaving the question of whether or not we’re observing the final collapse of pay TV in real-time very much open. Streamers like The Roku Channel certainly won’t complain if that’s the case, given the data shared by Nielsen.
Roku Channel
The Roku Channel is a free, ad-supported streaming service that offers a broad mix of movies, TV shows, live linear channels, and original programming. Available to all viewers — not just Roku device owners — the service features licensed content from major studios alongside Roku Originals, which include exclusive series, movies, and specials previously produced for Quibi, as well as new original projects developed specifically for the platform.