For the first time, TV viewers watched more on streaming services like Netflix and Disney+ than on cable, making streaming the most popular way to consume content, according to a new report from market metering firm Nielsen.
Analysts and commentators have been predicting this shift for years, but it has only just come to fruition. Streaming previously outperformed terrestrial television, but cable television still outpaced it until July.
In July, streaming accounted for 34.8% of audience TV viewing. Second place went to the now-defunct cable TV, which was barely behind with 34.4%. A relatively distant third was broadcast with 21.6 percent.
That said, the shift can be attributed both to the lack of new content, especially sports programming, on cable in July, and the rise in streaming. Streaming services are pumping out new content faster than ever, while cable channels have slowed down over the summer. There is also a lot more streaming content than before, thanks to the launch of new services such as Peacock and Paramount+ over the past few years.
Nielsen notes that total TV viewership hasn’t changed much, just the relative size of each slice of the pie. In other words, people don’t watch TV anymore; they watch the same amount of TV but in different ways.
The report also provides the relative performance of various popular streaming platforms. The largest category was “other streaming”with a 10.2% share of the streaming pie, but Netflix was the top single service with an 8% share. It is followed by YouTube with 7.3%, Hulu with 3.6%, Amazon Prime Video with 3%, Disney+ with 1.8% and HBO Max with 1%.
Finally, it’s worth mentioning that Nielsen tracks viewing data on real TVs. This data does not include mobile or desktop views, which will likely boost streaming even further.