• by Wayne Friedman , Yesterday

For the first time since starting the service four years ago, Nielsen’s monthly Total TV/streaming measurement showed that in May, the share of streaming TV viewing exceeded the combined viewing of broadcast and cable TV.

Total day viewing for persons two years and older hit 44.8% share for streaming, besting combined share of broadcast and cable TV viewing at 44.1%. Broadcast had a 20.1% share; cable TV, 24.1%.

Nielsen notes that this last month completes the fourth year of its Total TV/streaming measurement. Streaming viewing has risen 71% since May 2021.

Netflix viewership alone has climbed 27% since four years ago, while YouTube (excluding YouTube TV) has soared -- up over 120% in 2021.

YouTube now has a leading streaming 12.5% share, followed by Netflix at 7.5%.

Looking at the month-to-month picture, streaming was up a half a percentage share point from April’s 44.3% share.

This gain came mostly from FAST channels -- with Tubi rising to a 2.2% share from 2.0% and mid-level streamer platforms in Nielsen’s “Other Streaming” category climbing three-tenths of a percentage share point to 6.5%.

Compared to April, May’s share reading for many top premium streaming brands remained the same, with Netflix at 7.5%, followed by Walt Disney’s Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ collectively with 5.0%, Prime Video (3.5%), Warner Bros. Discovery (Max, discovery+) 1.5%, and NBCU’s Peacock at 1.4%.