YouTube Becomes First Streaming Platform To Break 10% Of Total TV Viewing

Last month marked a new milestone for streaming services, according to newly-released Nielsen viewing data.

In the month of July, Youtube became the first streaming platform ever to exceed 10% of total tv usage. Month-to-month, usage of Youtube went up 7%, accounting for 10.4% of all of the month’s tv usage.

Overall, streaming continues to show remarkable strength, accounting for 41.4% of tv viewing, while broadcast and cable viewing continues to decline. In July 2023, linear tv viewing (broadcast/cable) dipped below 50% for the first time, and a year later, it continues to slide, accounting for 46.7% of viewing in July 2024.

In terms of total aggregrated viewing across all tv, Youtube still ranks second to The Walt Disney Company, which has the benefit of broadcast (ABC) and cable (ESPN, Disney Channel), as well as multiple streaming platforms (Disney+, Hulu). However, Youtube, as a pure-play streaming platform, is doing remarkably well, and was less than one percent behind Disney for the month of June, the last month for which Nielsen has released data. See the breakdown below:

Last month, House of the Dragon on Max topped all programs with 4.7 billion viewing minutes, but was closely followed by the animated Bluey on Disney+ with 4.3 billion viewing minutes. Prime Video’s The Boys came in third with 4.2 billion viewing minutes.