TV usage ticks up as broadcast gains, though streaming is still tops in share
Television usage ticked up to start 2023, thanks not only to some big-ticket live sports but also new broadcast dramas and a steadily growing supply of new streaming content.
Overall usage rose 1.3% in January from December, according to "The Gauge" from Nielsen, the ratings firm's monthly overall look at TV delivery platforms.
Streaming kept its share as the top use of a television, an honor it claimed starting last summer - holding at 38.1%, the same as December. Cable had the second-biggest share but ticked down again (to 30.4% from 30.9% of TV time), while Broadcast rose to 24.9% from 24.7%, and "Other" (heavily videogaming, but also including such uses as viewing video discs) rose again, to 6.6% from 6.3%.
Broadcast usage rose 2.1% overall, Nielsen noted, driven by a 29% month-over-month increase in viewing of dramas, and a 55% jump in sports, thanks in near total part to the viewer behemoth that is the NFL playoffs (which swept the top 10 viewed programs for January). Cable saw a similar sports bump get wiped out by a 19% drop in cable movie viewing as America returned to work after the holidays.
Streaming usage ticked up 1.2%, though a couple of individual streamers changed share a bit as the gradual fragmentation of the space continued. YouTube/YouTube TV (NASDAQ:GOOG) (GOOGL) continued to hold top share, though it dipped to 8.6% overall share from the prior month's 8.7%. Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) held steady at 7.5% share.
The next couple of rivals made gains, however: Hulu/Hulu Live (NYSE:DIS) (CMCSA) gained share to 3.5% from 3.4%, and Amazon Prime Video (NASDAQ:AMZN) rose to 2.9% from 2.7%.
That came in part at the expense of Disney+ (DIS), which dipped to 1.7% share from 1.9%. HBO Max (WBD) also lost ground, to 1.3% from 1.4%. Peacock (CMCSA) held steady at 1%, and Pluto TV (PARA) (PARAA) held serve at 0.8%.
"Other streaming" (including smaller services like Crackle (CSSE) as well as linear streamers like Spectrum (CHTR), DirecTV and Sling TV (DISH)) rebounded with a gain, to 10.9% overall share.