Nielsen: Cable, Streaming Usage Rose in December

Television usage increased 1.7% in December to its highest levels since January 2023, but the biggest jump came from video-game consoles, with streaming, broadcast and cable all losing share, Nielsen said.

December 31 was the second-biggest day for TV viewing in 2023, behind only Super Bowl Sunday on February 12, 2023.

TV viewing in December continued its annual ascent to its seasonal January peak as usage increased 1.7% from November. Part of this was driven by younger audiences increasing their video game usage while away from the classroom during the winter break. That fact notwithstanding, the December interval included the day with the second-most viewing of the year (behind Super Bowl Sunday): TV viewers watched 105 billion minutes of programming on New Year’s Day.

After four consecutive monthly gains, the broadcast category lost its momentum, as usage dipped 4.3% from November. Adults 25-34 drove the biggest declines, as they watched 13% less broadcast programming than in November. Sports remained hot, with NFL games accounting for 12 of the top 13 broadcast telecasts during the month. New Year’s Rockin’ Eve on ABC took the 13th spot. And while sports maintained the lion’s share (28.5%) of broadcast viewing, sports viewing dipped 3.5% from the previous month. The news genre was one of the few gainers, with usage increasing 6% to account for 12% share of broadcast.

With the help of a host of high-profile sporting events, cable viewing increased 1.3% from November. In fact, football games accounted for the top 14 cable telecasts, with the Dec. 30, 2023, NFL game, the Orange Bowl, the NFL Christmas Eve game and the Cotton Bowl taking the top four spots. The bevy of ball games boosted cable sports viewing by 8.4%, but the feature film genre took the biggest slice of the cable pie in December (21.4%)—nearly triple sports’ share (8.1%). Due to overall TV usage, however, cable lost 0.1 share point to finish the month with 28.2% of TV usage.

Despite the record-breaking football season, this was not a typical fall TV season, according to Nielsen. The scarcity of new content across the entire ecosystem will soon turn the corner, with ramped-up production expected to begin delivering new scripted programming as soon as mid-January. Yet while the abbreviated broadcast and cable seasons won’t have the awareness and promotion that comes from fall sports, the recent streaming success of Young Sheldon and Suits highlights that the success of any one program isn’t limited to its original airing.