May was a banner month in the history of streaming.
According to Nielsen‘s measurement of televisions in the U.S. (mobile devices and other countries excluded), broadcast and cable viewing combined to make up 44.2% of all TV watched while streaming surpassed them with 44.8%. While streaming has been the largest source of TV viewing for a long time now, this is the first time it has lapped the total of the other key categories. (10.9% of viewing fell into miscellaneous categories.)
The news comes from the Gauge, Nielsen’s monthly TV consumption report, which has now been running for four years. From its launch in May 2021 to this May, streaming usage has jumped 71%, with broadcast down 21% and cable down 39%.
Nielsen notes that free services have contributed significantly to the uptick in streaming since 2021, with YouTube jumping 120% over the four years and regularly charting as the most-used streaming platform. In May, YouTube was the source of 12.5% of all TV viewership measured by Nielsen, the highest share achieved by any streamer to date. Even smaller platforms are having a footprint: Last month, Nielsen recorded that PlutoTV, Roku Channel and Tubi made up 5.7% of viewing in May, outpacing any individual broadcaster.
As the report points out, it isn’t a coincidence that the streaming milestone comes during the summer, when football is out of season and most broadcast programs are on hiatus. Still, Nielsen predicts that it won’t be long before streaming is able to maintain a winning streak for good.
Also notable from this month’s Gauge was the performance of Netflix, which it has noted as the leading SVOD service since the report was launched. The O.G. streamer has seen a 27% increase in viewing between 2021 and now, notably including the biggest streaming day in history on Christmas 2024, which it achieved with two NFL games. With 4 billion minutes watched, the No. 1 streaming program of the month was “You” thanks to the release of its final season — a full circle moment for Netflix, which acquired Season 1 of the series from Lifetime, saw strong viewership, then picked up the series and produced it in-house for the following four seasons.