There was a 2% gain in average household viewing and a 1.2% hike among 18-49 viewing. Prime-time viewing showed smaller hikes -- 0.4% among household viewing and a 0.3% decline in 18-49 viewing.

Research from Pivotal Research Group, in an analysis of Nielsen data, says these positive results come from strong Internet-connected TV viewing and from other sources.

“Total use of TV is important to monitor as it provides investors with a relative sense of the health of the medium,” writes Brian Wieser, senior analyst at Pivotal.                              

Internet-connected TV grew 65% to a 8.1% share of TV usage among 18-49 total day viewing from 4.9% in October 2015. This was up from the 2.4% level in October 2014. TV usage through video game consoles was up 9.0% from 8.8%.

Ad-supported cable TV networks dipped to a 41.5% share of total day 18-49 viewing from 44.0% in October 2015. Spanish-language broadcast viewing share also declined to a 3.2% share from a 3.8%. English-language broadcast viewing remained the same at a 21.5% share.

In October, Pivotal says commercial impressions -- C3 ratings, the average commercial minute ratings plus three days of time-shifted viewing -- among adults 18-49 viewers grew 2.6% to 940 billion driven by rising commercial advertising loads on TV networks. The results do not include content through Internet-connected devices.