Netflix has broken into the top three companies for the first time in Nielsen’s media distributor gauge for June, driven by its slate of fresh content as well as the annual summer increase in viewing from school-aged audiences ages 6 to 17.
The streamer, who posted the largest monthly share increase out of the companies included and its largest share of television since January, accounted for 8.3% of viewership. While time spent watching streaming content in June was up over 5% compared to May, Netflix viewership surged 13.5% over the same period.
YouTube maintained the top spot for the fifth consecutive month at 12.8%, with a 6% monthly viewing increase over May, while Disney followed in second at 10%. ABC affiliates notably accounted for the top 33 broadcast telecasts in June, driven largely by the NBA Finals and “ABC World News Tonight.”
The 2.8 percentage point lead over Disney marks YouTube’s largest among media distributors to date.
NBCU posted the fourth-largest total among media companies with 7.8% of TV, with Peacock notching a 13.4% monthly viewing increase in June driven by “Love Island,” making it the second largest contributor for the company’s total behind its NBC affiliates. NBCU’s viewership total was up slightly overall compared to May, although it gave up some share (-0.2 pt.).
Rounding out the remainder of the list was Paramount at 7.2%, Fox at 6.9%, Warner Bros. Discovery at 6.4%, Amazon at 3.7%, The Roku Channel at 2.5%, Scripps at 2%, Weigel Broadcasting at 1.3%, A&E Networks at 1.1%, Hallmark at 1% and AMC Networks at 0.8%.
Overall, the streaming category accounted for 46% of TV viewing in June, extending its gains over broadcast, which fell below 20% for the first time ever, and cable, which was flat at 23.4%.
