Streaming has officially overtaken traditional television in the U.S., marking a watershed moment in consumer entertainment habits and industry strategy.
According to Nielsen’s The Gauge report for May 2025, streaming accounted for 44.8 percent of total TV usage — outpacing the combined share of broadcast (20.1 percent) and cable (24.1 percent) for the first time.
Top streaming platforms:
YouTube (main + YouTube TV): 12.5 percent – the clear leader among streamers.
Netflix: 7.9 percent – holding strong as the second-largest streaming platform.
Disney+: 3.5 percent
Prime Video: 3.5 percent
Roku Channel: 2.5 percent
Paramount+ (incl. Pluto TV): 2.2 percent
Tubi: 2.2 percent
Warner Bros. Discovery (Max, Discovery+): 1.5 percent
Peacock: 1.4 percent
Other Streaming (combined smaller platforms): 6.5 percent
Key Insight: YouTube and Netflix together account for over 20 percent of total TV viewing, almost half of all streaming share. AVOD (ad-supported) services like Tubi, Roku, and Pluto TV continue to gain ground, while legacy broadcast and cable continue to decline.
Strategic Shift in Streaming
This milestone reflects the culmination of long-term strategic pivots by both pure-play streamers and traditional media companies. YouTube, now the top streaming platform with 12.5 percent of total TV viewership, continues to grow through short-form, creator-driven content and aggressive expansion of connected TV reach.
Netflix, which has held the top spot among subscription services for four years, has sharpened its sports and live content playbook — most notably with exclusive NFL games — while also benefiting from what’s known as the “Netflix Effect,” where licensed content gains renewed popularity when added to its library.
Media companies like Paramount, Disney, and NBCUniversal are increasingly embracing hybrid models, balancing linear channels with robust digital offerings. Ad-supported tiers, simulcast strategies (e.g., Super Bowl on FOX and Tubi), and broader device integrations have become central to retaining and growing audiences.
Consumer Spending
Behind the rise of streaming is a significant shift in how consumers spend on media. While some viewers continue to pay for premium subscriptions, there’s accelerating interest in Free Ad-Supported Streaming Television (FAST) platforms such as PlutoTV, Roku Channel, and Tubi. These services now command a combined 5.7 percent of total TV viewing, surpassing any single broadcast network and offering viewers zero-cost access to curated and on-demand programming.
Consumers are making value-driven choices: the rise of FAST platforms, coupled with widespread password-sharing crackdowns and subscription fatigue, is causing viewers to reevaluate how much they’re willing to spend across multiple platforms. This has pressured streamers to diversify their monetization models, blending subscriptions, ads, and even sports rights into one ecosystem.
Implications for the Industry
The growing dominance of streaming reshapes the media monetization landscape. Advertisers are adapting rapidly, allocating more spend to digital platforms that offer advanced targeting, measurement, and increasingly larger viewer bases than traditional TV. Nielsen’s report confirms that streaming usage is up 71 percent since May 2021, while broadcast and cable viewership have declined 21 percent and 39 percent, respectively.
Though the trend may shift during major broadcast-heavy seasons like fall sports, the long-term trajectory is clear: streaming is no longer an alternative — it is the mainstream. The challenge for platforms now lies in managing profitability amid rising content costs and increased competition for attention in a fragmented viewing environment.
Baburajan Kizhakedath
