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Nielsen Reports Shift in Streaming Landscape for March
Nielsen’s latest monthly Gauge report reveals a significant milestone in the streaming industry, highlighting that the 10 most popular streaming titles originated from seven different platforms: Prime Video, Hulu, Disney+, Max, Paramount+, Netflix, and Apple TV+.
The titles topping the charts included “Reacher” which garnered 6.6 billion viewing minutes, while both “Family Guy” and “Bluey” attracted 4.8 billion viewing minutes each. Other notable mentions were “The White Lotus,” with 4.5 billion minutes, along with both “1923” and “Moana 2,” each with 3.9 billion viewing minutes. Meanwhile, “Running Point” reached 3.7 billion minutes, followed by “Love is Blind” at 3.5 billion, and “Adolescence” and “Severance,” both at 3.3 billion viewing minutes.
This surge in activity among these new releases pushed the overall share of streaming in TV viewing to 43.8%, despite a 6% month-over-month drop in total TV watching attributed mainly to seasonal trends.
Diving into platform-specific data, YouTube continued to dominate the streaming scene, capturing a remarkable 12% share, the highest recorded for the month, notwithstanding a reduction in viewing compared to February. Netflix followed with a 7.9% share, while a combined total viewing for Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ resulted in a 5% share for Disney for March.
Other platforms such as Prime Video, Paramount Streaming (including Paramount+ and Pluto TV), and The Roku Channel garnered 3.5%, 2.3%, and 2.2% shares respectively. Notably, Tubi and Warner Bros. Discovery Streaming, which includes Max and Discovery+, achieved 1.9% and 1.5% shares, while Peacock trailed closely behind at 1.4%.
Max experienced a significant uptick, with its largest month-over-month increase of 6% driven predominantly by “The White Lotus.”
In contrast to streaming’s expansion, cable television also saw an uptick in viewership, rising to a share of 24% during the month. This growth was bolstered by a substantial 29% increase fueled by sports events, particularly March Madness, alongside strong ratings for cable news programs.
The NCAA Men’s Elite Eight games, notably Alabama vs. Duke and Texas Tech vs. Florida, were among the most viewed cable sports telecasts in March. In the realm of cable news, seven of the top 10 cable telecasts came from Fox News Channel, which attracted 11 million viewers for its coverage of the presidential address to Congress on March 4, amassing over 36 million total viewers across platforms.
As for the broadcast sector, it experienced a decline with a 20.5% share for March, a 9% decrease compared to the previous month, primarily due to the absence of football programming.
Among the notable broadcasts, the Oscars stood out as the most-watched event, drawing 20.3 million viewers on ABC along with the simulcast on Hulu. Interestingly, younger demographics, particularly those aged 18-to-34, were found to be three times more likely to stream the event compared to older viewers, while those aged 35-to-49 were twice as likely to consume the Oscars through streaming rather than traditional broadcasts. Moreover, scripted dramas captured 28% of total viewing within this category, with CBS’s “Tracker” featuring prominently by representing five of the top 10 broadcast telecasts, each averaging over 10 million viewers despite competition from March Madness.
Source
www.thewrap.com