US Video-Streaming Usage Tops Cable TV for First Time

For the first time ever, video streaming has surpassed cable TV in viewership for the US market, according to market research firm Nielsen. 

In July, video streaming claimed a record 34.8% share of total television consumption in the country, narrowly beating the 34.4% share of cable TV. Old-school broadcast TV, meanwhile, grabbed a 21.6% share. 

“Streaming usage has surpassed that of broadcast before, but this is the first time it has also exceeded cable viewing,” Nielsen said. 

The growth in streaming usage is stark when you look at the numbers on a year-over-year basis. Video streaming grew its market share by 22.6% while both cable and broadcast TV saw their viewership dip by around 9%. 

Nielsen added: “Time spent streaming in July averaged nearly 191 billion minutes per week, and each of the five measurement weeks in July 2022 now account for five of the six highest-volume streaming weeks on record according to Nielsen.”

During July, Netflix was the most popular video-streaming service and claimed an 8% share of total viewership hours. Coming in second was YouTube, which achieved a 7.3% share, while Hulu came in third with a 3.6% share.  

The Nielsen data is good news for video-streaming providers such as Netflix, which is trying to attract more subscribers amid intense competition and the economic downturn. However, Nielsen notes that total time spent watching TV in July was about the same as the prior month and in July 2021. So streaming providers will likely need to focus on foreign markets to gain greater viewership.

The report from Nielsen also notes that sports TV viewing was down in July, likely due to the end of the NBA and NHL playoffs. As a result, broadcast and cable viewing could see increases as we enter the NFL and college football seasons.

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Across the pond, meanwhile, UK regulator Ofcom released a report this week that finds people aged 16 to 24 are seven times less likely to watch broadcast TV than those aged 65 and over.

"People aged 16-24 spend less than an hour (53 minutes) in front of broadcast TV in an average day – a fall of two-thirds in the last 10 years," Ofcom said. "In contrast, those aged 65 and over still spend around a third of their waking day enjoying broadcast TV, sitting down for almost six hours (5 hours and 50 minutes) daily. This is actually slightly higher than a decade ago."

About one-fifth of homes subscribe to Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+, Ofcom said. Nine in 10 18- to 24-year-olds head straight to streaming when they want to watch something.