Ad-supported platforms accounted for 73.6% of TV viewing in the second quarter of 2025, an increase of 1.2 share points, compared to non-ad supported platforms 26.4% share, per Nielsen’s Ad-Supported Gauge.
The gains came from streaming, which picked up 2.9 share points and finished the quarter with 45.3% of ad-supported TV viewing, with the majority (2.7 share points) shifting from broadcast and the remainder (0.2 share points) given up by cable. Streaming releases during the quarter included new seasons of “Love Island USA,” “Squid Game” and “Ginny & Georgia,” as well as recently re-released series such as “Animal Kingdom” and “Blindspot.”
The cable category, which finished the quarter with an ad-supported TV share of 28.7%, benefitted from a strong news cycle as well as broad coverage of the NBA playoffs. Meanwhile, broadcast fell to an ad-supported share of 26%.
The latest data marks the second installment of the ad-supported gauge. In the first quarter of 2025, ad-supported streaming made up 72.4% of TV viewing, while broadcast and cable each accounted for around 28%.
It comes as streaming reached a historic milestone in May, with the category’s share of total TV usage surpassing the combined share of broadcast and cable for the first time ever. In June, streaming extended its gains, with broadcast viewership falling below 20% for the first time. Netflix also broke into the top three in Nielsen’s media distributor gauge for the first time, though YouTube continued to extend its lead over the streamer and its legacy media competitors, finishing the month with 12.8% of TV viewing.
Overall, viewership was down 9% from the previous quarter, while ad-supported viewership was down 8%. Ad-supported broadcast fell 16% and ad-supported cable fell 8%, while ad-supported streaming was flat.
