TV viewing hit at 12-month high in January, a 3.7% increase over the previous month, fueled by sports, returning broadcast dramas, a 9% increase in cable viewership and cold winter temperatures that kept audiences indoors, according to Nielsen.
Streaming climbed to a 47% share for January, with time spent up 2.7% month-over-month. YouTube continued to lead the pack with a 12.5% share. Netflix reported its best monthly performance to date with an 8.8% share of TV, up 1% over December. The streamer owned the top streaming program for a second consecutive month, as “Stranger Things” tallied 15.4 billion viewing minutes in January.
Disney finished in third with Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ reporting an aggregate share of 4.9%, while Prime Video followed closely behind with a share of 4.1%. Meanwhile, The Roku Channel grew 5% month-over-month to a share of 3%, Paramount+ and Pluto TV reached a combined share of 2.3% and Tubi grew 6% month-over-month to a share of 2.1%.
Peacock grew its share of TV viewing by 10% to 1.8%, driven by a new season of “The Traitors” and simulcasts of NFL games carried on NBC. The Jan. 18 broadcast of the NFL Divisional Playoff matchup between the L.A. Rams and Chicago Bears fueled a 78% boost in viewership over its monthly average. Rounding out the list was Warner Bros. Discovery with a 1.4% share.
Elsewhere, cable captured the largest monthly viewing increase in Nielsen’s Gauge in January and represented 21.1% of total TV time.
Sports viewing surged 49% over December, propelled by ESPN’s coverage of the College Football Playoffs, which included the quarterfinals, semifinals and championship games. ESPN alone saw an 82% monthly viewing uptick.
Cable news also benefited from an active news cycle in January and rose 13% versus December, largely driven by a 17% viewership gain for Fox News Channel and a 29% gain for CNN. Notably, ESPN and Fox each represented 2.2% of total TV usage in January, and together, the two networks comprised 21% of the month’s cable viewing.
Sports was also an anchor for broadcast viewership in January, which represented 21.5% of TV time, a 4.2% increase. NFL games accounted for the top 15 broadcast telecasts and the sports genre represented the largest share of the category’s viewership (30%).
Broadcast dramas also rose 24% month-over-month, with ABC’s “High Potential” emerging as the most-watched drama program in January. Similar to cable, the busy news cycle boosted broadcast news viewing by 10% compared to last month, led by ABC’s “World News Tonight.”
