Cable viewing rose in March 2026 as TV audiences shifted from Olympics highs to more typical seasonal patterns, with NCAA basketball tournaments, the Oscars, and a heavy news cycle driving gains for key distributors.
Cable was the only major category to increase its monthly viewing share, climbing to 21.4% of total TV — its highest level since October 2025 — up 1.4 percentage points from February. The largest audience growth came from 18- to 24-year-olds, whose viewing jumped 8%, fueled largely by March Madness.
Paramount posted the biggest monthly gain among media distributors, adding 1.1 share points to reach 8.1% of TV viewing. Growth was driven almost entirely by CBS, which aired NCAA tournament games, top scripted series Tracker and The Marshals, and 60 Minutes. CBS accounted for seven of the top 10 broadcast telecasts in March.
Warner Bros. Discovery followed with the largest overall viewing increase (+10% vs. February), gaining 0.9 share points to finish at 6.1%. Gains came from CNN (+12%), HBO Max (+5%), and NCAA coverage on TBS, TNT, and TruTV.
Cable news surged 8% amid a busy news cycle, representing 29% of all cable viewing. FOX News Channel rose 9%, led by State of the Union coverage that topped cable telecasts. This contributed to a 2% overall increase for FOX, which ended March with a 0.6-point gain and 7.2% share of TV.
Disney climbed to second place among distributors with 10.5% of total TV (+0.6 points), boosted by ABC’s Oscar broadcast (over 17 million viewers) and record streaming performance.
Disney climbed to second place among distributors with 10.5% of total TV (+0.6 points), boosted by ABC’s Oscar broadcast (over 17 million viewers) and record streaming performance.
Disney’s streaming services reached 5.3% of TV, with hits including Grey’s Anatomy, Bluey, Zootopia 2, and Family Guy filling four of the top 10 streaming titles and generating more than 16 billion viewing minutes. Hulu’s Paradise added another 3.6 billion minutes.
Streaming overall declined 7% month-over-month but still accounted for 47.6% of TV viewing.
Key Highlights:
- YouTube reclaimed the top distributor spot at 13.2% share (+0.5 points), despite a 3% drop in viewing volume.
- Netflix held 8.2% share, led by Bridgerton with 7.8 billion viewing minutes — the top streaming title of the month.
- HBO Max’s The Pitt (5.7 billion minutes) ranked second among streaming titles and, combined with March Madness simulcasts, helped WBD’s streaming properties gain 4% and 0.1 share points.
- The Roku Channel recovered to 3.0% of TV and posted the strongest year-over-year growth of any distributor (+27% vs. March 2025).