May ushers in the summer of streaming – Nielsen

Television viewing, like other activities has its historical norms. Many are influenced by the calendar. However, streaming continues to grow and claim 31.9% in total television time.

May is traditionally the month that TV viewers are at their lowest. And this year was no exception, with total time spent with television falling 2.7%. In comparison to broadcast or cable viewing, however streaming usage rose by 2%. The increase was amplified through the release of Obi Wan KenobiDisney+ Season 4 Stranger ThingsNetflix. The appetite for these titles was significant, helping the two platforms attract big viewership as the programs dropped: Disney+ attracted 2.5% of the total TV share  on May 27, and Netflix claimed 9.0% on Saturday, May 28.

Both cable and broadcast viewing fell in May in accordance with historical norms. Cable viewing also declined 3.5%. For broadcast viewers, drama continued to dominate with procedural crimes dramas like NCIS, FBI Blue BloodsThe genre captured one-third the total broadcast viewing. Cable news viewing fell 4.2% in May. However, sports viewing was higher by 7% and accounted for 9%. The NBA playoffs were the most-viewed cable program during May. 

The summertime is a time of lull for television and could serve as an indicator for streaming services. Keep checking back for more iterations and updates from The Gauge, as we continue mapping these trends.

Please refer to the below methodology.

The video gives you a glimpse into the workings of The Gauge by Brian Fuhrer.

METHODOLOGY & FREQUENTLY QUESTED QUESTIONS

Monthly macroanalysis by The Gauge of consumer access across major television platforms including Broadcast and Streaming. The chart also shows the breakdown of major streaming distributors. This chart shows individual streaming distributors’ share of each category as well as total TV usage.

The Gauge’s data are derived from two weighted panels. They then combine to make the graphic. SME’s streaming data is derived from a subset of Streaming Meter-enabled TV households within the National TV panel. The linear TV sources (Broadcast and Cable), as well as total usage are based on viewing from SME’s overall TV panel.

The data are based upon a particular viewing period. The data, representing a 5 week month, includes a combination of Live+7 for weeks 1 – 4 in the data time period. Notice: Live+7 covers live viewing of television and watching up to seven days after. The Live+3 package includes live television viewing and viewing for up to three additional days.

Within The Gauge, “Other” includes all other TV. It includes any tuning other than the one shown, unmeasured video-on-demand (VOD) streaming, other devices (DVD playback), and all other other television. Because streaming via cable set top boxes does not credit respective streaming distributors, these are included in the “Other” category. SME will continue to work towards crediting individual streaming distributors via cable set-top boxes as we improve our Streaming Meter technology.

Streaming platforms listed as “Other Streaming” includes any high-bandwidth video streaming on television that is not individually broken out.

Hulu Live viewing is included in Hulu, and Youtube viewing includes Youtube TV.

Ecoded Linear Streaming, also known as encoded TV, can be found under the Broadcast or Cable group (linear TV), as well as under Streaming, and other streaming options e.g. Hulu TV, Youtube TV, and Other Streaming MVPD/vMVPD Apps. MVPD is multichannel video programming distributer. This service provides several television channels. Distributors who aggregate TV programming from multiple networks are known as vMVPDs. They offer a subscription that allows for standalone access to the content.