Linear TV Drops Below 50% of July Viewing

Broadcast and cable’s share of viewing dropped below 50% (to 49.6%) as streaming hit a new high in July, according to Nexttv citing a report from Nielsen.

Broadcast’s share was 20% in July, a new low, down from 20.8% in June. Cable had a 29.6% share, down from 30.6%. It’s the first time cable’s share had been below 30%. It’s worth noting that cable had a 40.1% share as recently as June 2021.

Streaming’s share rose to 38.7% in July, the highest since Nielsen began issuing monthly reports, and up from 37.7% in June.

Overall TV usage increased 0.2% in July, with viewing by viewers under age 18 up 4%. Time spent streaming was up 2.9%. Streaming usage is up 12% from a year ago.

Illustrating the shift from linear TV to streaming, Nielsen said that Suits — a former cable TV series — had more than 18 billion minutes of viewing on Netflix. That contributed to Netflix’s 4.2% increase in viewing in the month. Nielsen noted that a year ago, Netflix original Stranger Things had 18 billion viewing minutes for Netflix.

In July, broadcast usage fell 3.6% from June. Compared to a year ago, broadcast viewing was down 5.4%. The top broadcast programs were ABC World News Tonight and the MLB All-Star Game on Fox.

Cable usage was down 2.9% month over month, and down 12.5% from a year ago.. ESPN’s Home Run Derby and College World Series were the top two cable programs in July, followed by When Calls The Heart on The Hallmark Channel.

YouTube remained the top streaming service, accounting for 9.2% of viewing in July, up from 8.8% in June. Netflix was No. 2 at 8.5%, up from 8.2%.

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The arrival of fall will likely result in a seasonal shift in TV viewing, especially with the arrival of a new NFL season. In November 2022, for example, sports accounted for 150 billion viewing minutes on broadcast. The potential for less new original primetime content this fall presents a unique situation for broadcast and cable, but the recent success of acquired programming on streaming channels highlights the outsized strength of quality content, regardless of when it was created.