• by Wayne Friedman , May 14, 2024

Streaming share of the total TV usage pie remained virtually stable in April --- at 38.4%, according to Nielsen. 

All streaming platforms’ total day viewing for persons age two and up viewing slipped 2% versus March (a 38.4% share), with broadcast share down 3% to a 22.2% share (from 22.5%).

Cable was the only category to see improvement month-to-month -- up 3% from March to 29.1% -- largely attributable to NCAA basketball tournament coverage, the NBA playoffs and the NFL draft.

Analysis of cable-aired sports programming only showed viewing growth of 28%.

Nielsen says that year-over-year, streaming is up 13%, with cable and broadcast down 8% and 4%, respectively. 

Individual streaming platforms continue to see YouTube in the lead with a commanding 9.6% share -- down 3% month-to-month.

The best streamer performance came from Amazon Prime Video, rising 12% to a 3.2% share (compared to a 2.8% share in March). Nielsen credits new original series “Fallout,” which earned a leading seven billion viewing minutes -- tops among all streaming titles.

Accounting for much of the streaming decline, Netflix witnessed a slight dip to 7.6% (8.1% in March). Max also slipped to 1.2% (from 1.3%).

Those on the uptick include Hulu at 3.1% (vs. 3.0% in March); Disney+ with 1.8% (vs. 1.7%); Tubi at 1.7% (vs. 1.6%); and Roku Channel with 1.4% (vs. 1.3%).

Platforms that were unchanged from March include Peacock at 1.3%; Paramount+ with 1.0%; and Pluto TV at 0.8%.