As TV usage dips, streaming surges to record share in Nielsen measure
Streaming video has surged to another record share of television usage, as there now looks to be no reversing the direction of the tide: in favor of cutting the cord.
Streaming usage made a big jump in May, to a record 31.9% share of TV time - and once again it took share from all other potential uses: Cable's leading share dipped to 36.5% from last month's 36.8%; Broadcast TV usage fell to 24.4% from 24.7%; and the share of "Other" (heavily videogaming) fell to 7.2% from 8.2%, according to "The Gauge" from Nielsen, its monthly macro look at TV delivery platforms.
Overall TV usage fell again, by 2.7% (as is typical, with May a historical low point for TV use). Broadcast and cable viewing both fell off as expected, with viewing volume dropping 3.5% for each.
But streaming got a boost from some high-profile content releases for Memorial Day weekend, notably a new season of Stranger Things at Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) and the release of Obi-Wan Kenobi on Disney+ (NYSE:DIS). Those programs' debuts brought strong single days, as Disney+ grabbed 2.5% of all TV share on Friday, May 27, and Netflix took 9% of all share on Saturday, May 28.
Among particular streaming-service components, most top services shared in streaming's bigger overall piece of the TV pie. Leader Netflix (NFLX) boosted its share to 6.8% of TV usage from 6.6%; YouTube (NASDAQ:GOOG) (GOOGL) rose to 6.7% from 6.1%; Hulu (DIS) (CMCSA) ticked up to 3.4% from 3.3%; and Amazon Prime Video (NASDAQ:AMZN) rose to 2.6% from 2.5%.
Disney+ (DIS) share stayed flat at 1.7%, and HBO Max (WBD) stayed flat at 1%.
Beyond those leading services, the catch-all "Other streaming" group boosted its share to 9.6% from 9.2%. That category also includes small services such as Crackle (CSSE) as well as linear streamers like Spectrum (CHTR), DirecTV and Sling TV (DISH).
Turning to weekly streaming ratings, Netflix's (NFLX) Ozark finally gave up a three-week hold on the top of the chart, only to be supplanted by a new Netflix series: The Lincoln Lawyer was No. 1 with 1.85 billion minutes streamed, beating a still strong performance from Ozark (1.081 billion) as well as Netflix's film Senior Year (767 million) and reliable kid hit CoComelon (682 million).
Netflix once again took nine of the top 10 spots on the overall chart; Disney+ (DIS) made its one entry at No. 5 with its movie Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers (594 million minutes). Rounding out the top 10: No. 6, NCIS (NFLX), 552 million minutes; No. 7, Criminal Minds (NFLX), 501 million; No. 8, The Circle (NFLX), 467 million; No. 9, Outlander (NFLX), 456 million; and No. 10, A Perfect Pairing (NFLX), 442 million.
(A reminder that Nielsen streaming ratings incorporate viewing from five major streamers: Amazon Prime Video (AMZN), Apple TV+ (AAPL), Disney+ (DIS), Hulu (DIS) (CMCSA) and Netflix (NFLX).)
Pay TV distributors: Comcast (CMCSA), Charter (CHTR), Dish Network (DISH), Verizon FiOS (VZ), Optimum/Suddenlink (ATUS), Atlantic Broadband (OTCPK:CGEAF), Sparklight (CABO).
Relevant local broadcast tickers: Nexstar Media Group (NXST), Sinclair Broadcast Group (SBGI), Gray Television (GTN), Tegna (TGNA), E.W. Scripps (SSP). National broadcasters: ABC (DIS), NBC (CMCSA), CBS (PARA) (PARAA), Fox (FOX) (FOXA). And some ad-tech names tied to connected TV: The Trade Desk (TTD), Magnite (MGNI), PubMatic (PUBM), Criteo (CRTO), Roku (ROKU).