Disney Retakes Top Spot in Nielsen’s Media Distributor Gauge

The return of the NFL and NCAA football kicked off significant gains for media companies in September, as Disney reclaimed the top spot with 11.3% of TV and marked the third consecutive monthly lead-change in Nielsen’s Media Distributor Gauge. Disney notched a 17% viewing increase in September and added 1.8 share points over August—the largest share increase among all reported distributors. Disney’s 17% growth can be attributed to gains from ESPN (+101%) and ESPN2 (+165%), and its ABC broadcast affiliates (+25%). 

TpWhile NFL and college football games were primary drivers of various viewership upticks noted in the September 2024 Gauge report, the Media Distributor Gauge provides additional insight into how those upticks affected media companies. In addition to Disney, other distributors recorded double-digit viewing increases in September, including FOX (+18%) and Amazon (+13%). Like Disney, FOX also exhibited a considerable bump in viewing to its broadcast affiliates and was up 69% compared to August. Overall, FOX’s share of television viewing climbed to 7.3% (+1.3 pt.) in September, and Amazon finished with 3.7% of TV (+0.5 pt.), which was a new high water mark for the streaming distributor. (➤To Enlarge Graphic: Right Click, Then Click 'Magnify Image')

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Ultimately, as viewers shifted their focus to football in September, eight of the 14 reported media companies experienced viewing decreases this month, including NBCU. Despite falling 4.1 share points in the wake of a record breaking August powered by the Olympics, NBCU would have likely exhibited growth similar to the aforementioned distributors. They still managed to finish in the top three, however, and came in behind YouTube with 9.3% of TV.

As viewing habits continue to exhibit the impacts of seasonality and sports, a maximized multi-platform approach to audience engagement like we’ve seen in August and September will be an important strategic mechanism in the months ahead.

The measurement month of September 2024 included five weeks: 08/26/2024 through 09/29/2024. Nielsen measurement weeks run Monday through Sunday.