Television viewing in August was defined by the undeniable influence of the 2024 Paris Olympics, according to The Gauge™ report from Nielsen. The Summer Games had the most notable impact on broadcast viewership, notching growth levels more typical for September with increases of 8% versus July and 11.7% year over year. The broadcast category ultimately accounted for 22.0% of TV in August, and when looking week-by-week, its share peaked during the first week of the interval with 24.3% of TV.
On the streaming side, Peacock offered broad Olympics coverage to complement linear offerings, the success of which was demonstrated by a monthly viewership increase of 39% for the streaming service overall, and nearly double the amount of viewers aged 35-49. These factors helped lift Peacock from a 1.5% share of TV in July to a new platform-best 2.1% share in August (+0.6 pts.). It also makes Peacock only the third streaming platform this year to record a 0.5 point share increase or more on a monthly basis, in addition to YouTube (Feb. and July) and Netflix (June).
Olympics programming on NBC drew millions of viewers in both primetime and daytime windows. Across all of NBC’s Olympics telecasts that aired during the August interval*, 32 of them totaled more than 5 million viewers, and 17 garnered more than 10 million viewers. Moreover, Olympics telecasts on NBC notched the top 19 broadcast telecasts of the month. Leading the charge with 17.9 million viewers was NBC’s July 30th primetime program that highlighted Simone Biles and the U.S. women’s gymnastics team winning gold in the team competition, as well as four American medals in swimming and the dramatic bronze-medal victory by the U.S. women’s rugby team.
From a total television usage perspective, August levels were even with July. However, a year-over-year comparison revealed a larger imbalance, as usage this month was up 3.5% versus August 2023. A notable year-over-year difference was also evident among broadcast program genres, with broadcast sports program viewership up 239% over August 2023, further illustrating the impact of the Games on the overall TV landscape.
Like the broadcast category, cable also exhibited a peak viewing week that coincided with a major TV event. The Democratic National Convention aired for four nights across multiple networks during the final week of the August interval, and during that week, cable’s share of television climbed to 27.9%. The DNC also contributed to the top cable programs in August, with MSNBC receiving most of the benefits. MSNBC owned the top 11 cable telecasts of the month, and 14 of the top 15. ESPN’s coverage of the Florida State vs. Georgia Tech football matchup snagged the 12th spot. In the end, cable viewing was down 2% from July and finished the month with 26.3% of TV.
After several consecutive remarkable months, the streaming category had a softer month in August from a content perspective, but remained the clear winner overall with 41.0% of TV (down 1%, -0.4 pts.). Only one original program broke into the month’s top 10—The Umbrella Academy on Netflix totaled 3.9 billion viewing minutes—while the rest went to acquired titles including Prison Break, which led the way with 5.4 billion minutes across Netflix and Paramount+. Bluey on Disney+ generated over 4 billion viewing minutes to secure the second most watched streaming title this month. The animated Australian import helped drive an 8% increase for the streamer, as Disney+ reached a platform high of 2.3% of TV in August. Some of the 8% boost can also be attributed to Hulu content available within the Disney+ platform to certain package subscribers.
YouTube won the month among streaming services for the 19th consecutive interval, posting another category and platform best in August with 10.6% of TV. Compared with August 2023, YouTube has the largest year-over-year difference in share for any streaming platform and has added 1.5 points to its share of TV (9.1% to 10.6%). Meanwhile, the overall streaming category has gained 2.7 points YoY and is up 11% versus August 2023.
* The measurement month of August 2024 included four weeks: 07/29/2024 through 08/25/2024. Nielsen measurement weeks run Monday through Sunday.
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