YouTube Remains No. 1 Most-Watched Streamer for Sixth Month in a Row, Per Nielsen
YouTube pulled in more viewership than any streaming service during the month of July, according to Nielsen‘s monthly Gauge report. This the the sixth month in a row that the free video-sharing site has come out on top of Nielsen’s ranking, this time achieving 13.4% of all TV viewing.
That total is doubly impressive in the context of the platform’s overall reach. Nielsen only measures viewership on television screens, but YouTube meets a sizable portion of its audience on mobile devices — presumably more so than companies like Netflix and Disney — so its true proportion of streaming viewership is likely even higher.
Ranking at No. 2 after YouTube was Disney. Across its two streamers, Hulu and Disney+ (which will be combined into one app next year), Disney accounted for 9.4% of TV viewership in July. Per Nielsen, the four-point difference between YouTube and Disney is the largest lead a media company has taken since the Gauge began tracking TV usage by company in November of 2023.
As usual, Netflix also held a spot in the top three, this time with 8.8% of all TV use. Nielsen notes that it had the largest monthly gain in number of viewers, jumping from its June total by 215,000 minutes watched, and that it was the only platform to see increases across each viewing demographic. At No. 9, the Roku Channel had the largest gain proportionally, notching 2.8% of all TV viewership — a 7.5% lift.
“The Summer I Turned Pretty” and “Bosch” spinoff “Ballard” boosted Amazon to fourth place with 3.9% of all TV usage, just under its platform-best of 4% last December.
Nielsen also notes that trends on the Gauge will likely begin to shift as the fall TV season begins, with sports and the return of network projects shifting audiences’ viewing habits.
That total is doubly impressive in the context of the platform’s overall reach. Nielsen only measures viewership on television screens, but YouTube meets a sizable portion of its audience on mobile devices — presumably more so than companies like Netflix and Disney — so its true proportion of streaming viewership is likely even higher.
Ranking at No. 2 after YouTube was Disney. Across its two streamers, Hulu and Disney+ (which will be combined into one app next year), Disney accounted for 9.4% of TV viewership in July. Per Nielsen, the four-point difference between YouTube and Disney is the largest lead a media company has taken since the Gauge began tracking TV usage by company in November of 2023.
As usual, Netflix also held a spot in the top three, this time with 8.8% of all TV use. Nielsen notes that it had the largest monthly gain in number of viewers, jumping from its June total by 215,000 minutes watched, and that it was the only platform to see increases across each viewing demographic. At No. 9, the Roku Channel had the largest gain proportionally, notching 2.8% of all TV viewership — a 7.5% lift.
“The Summer I Turned Pretty” and “Bosch” spinoff “Ballard” boosted Amazon to fourth place with 3.9% of all TV usage, just under its platform-best of 4% last December.
Nielsen also notes that trends on the Gauge will likely begin to shift as the fall TV season begins, with sports and the return of network projects shifting audiences’ viewing habits.