Audiences spent more time streaming in May, while broadcast and cable viewership took a bit of a nosedive, according to Nielsen’s monthly state of TV report, The Gauge.
Total TV usage was down about 4.4% versus April, declining for the fourth consecutive month. While Nielsen reports that this is fairly typical for the time of year, time spent watching TV only declined 2.7% over the same period in 2022.
Despite the downfall, streaming usage increase by 2.5% from April to May, and streaming’s share of overall TV usage jumped from 34.0% to 36.4%. Nielsen incorporated a technical enhancement into its measurements that allows it to account for streaming via cable set-top boxes, though the company says this only made up about half of the increase in streaming.
The other half was a reflection of viewing habits. Netflix and Prime Video were among the top streamers to gain momentum in May. Netflix posted a usage gain of 9.2%, led by Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story (5.4B viewing minutes), A Man Called Otto (3.1B) and The Mother (3.0B). Prime Video managed a 5/1% uptick in usage, with help from The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Citadel, which combined for 2.7B viewing minutes.
It’s unclear how viewership for Maisel and Citadel was distributed, though Citadel has failed to make it onto any of Nielsen’s streaming charts since it was released on April 28. Maisel did manage to make an appearance among the streaming originals.
FAST services are also continuing to gain favor among viewers. In May, the Roku Channel became the third FAST service to earn stand-alone recognition in Nielsen’s reporting with a 1.1% share of TV usage. The Roku Channel combined with Pluto TV and Tubi TV to make up 3.3% of TV time this month.
Things were not looking so great for broadcast and cable this month, which fell by 5.5% and 5.4%, respectively. Broadcast’s decline was led by a whopping 25% decrease in sports viewing, despite the Kentucky Derby managing to secure the top program for the month.
By contrast, cable sports viewing was actually up 12% in May, thanks to the NBA Finals on ESPN and TNT. However, cable news viewing was down 11%.
