• by Wayne Friedman , 7 hours ago

With high-profile NFL football viewing back in September, linear TV-based legacy media companies rocketed up in industry share versus August -- but were all still lower versus a year ago, according to Nielsen's Media Distributor Gauge.

Walt Disney, in second place, added nearly two share points versus August -- up to 10.7%, but still down from 11.3% share a year ago.

YouTube added growth year-over-year -- rising to a 12.6% in September 2025 versus a 10.6% share in September 2024.

YouTube was down from the previous month -- August 2025 -- when it had 13.1% share.

Among other legacy media companies, NBCUniversal came in at 8.6% in September versus 9.3% the previous year, followed by Paramount Skydance at 7.7% (vs. 8.2%); Fox Corp. with 7.3% share (vs. 7.9%) and Warner Bros. Discovery at 5.4% (vs. 6.7% in September 2024).

Legacy media companies witnessed sharp monthly viewing and usage gains month-to-month, with Disney up 13%, NBCU rising 16%, Paramount up 11% and Fox increasing 20% -- the biggest gain of the traditional TV media companies.

Looking specifically at just broadcast affiliates, ABC grew 24%, while NBC was 37% higher, Fox added 59%, CBS rose 29% and ESPN was up 65%.

YouTube was not the only digital-first media company/platform to show growth. Amazon was up 3.9% (from 3.7%), while Roku Channel was up 75% to a 2.8% share (from 1.6%).