February Exhibits Seasonality of TV Usage, but Streaming Continues to Make Waves, according to Nielsen's The Gauge

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Mar 16, 2023, 08:00 ET

TV consumption falls over 5% vs. January. Tubi achieves 1.0% share of TV usage for first time.

NEW YORK, March 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Gauge, Nielsen's monthly visualization of total TV and streaming consumption in the U.S., revealed in the February 2023 report that time spent watching TV fell 5.1% from January to February, in line with the seasonality of viewing behavior for this time of year. This monthly decline in viewing was nearly the same as the 5.7% decline observed over the same period in 2022. However, while usage fell across each of the primary TV formats this month, streaming was least impacted and decreased less than 1% versus January, while viewing to broadcast and cable content decreased 9.2% and 5.7%, respectively.

Nielsen's The Gauge, February 2023 summary of total TV and streaming consumption.

As a result of the varying downturns in viewing across formats this month, the streaming category was the only to exhibit any growth in share (+1.5 pts.) versus January to finish the month at 34.3%* of overall TV usage, which also marked another record-high share for the digital format.

Among the streaming platform highlights this month, Tubi TV achieved a 1.0% share of total TV for the first time in February, making it the 9th streaming platform to reach this threshold and thus be broken out in The Gauge. YouTube (not including YouTube TV) accounted for nearly 8% of overall TV usage in February and captured the largest share among streaming platforms in The Gauge.

The 9.2% monthly decline in viewing to broadcast content in February was driven by a nearly 65% drop in broadcast sports viewing due to the conclusion of the NFL season, and contributed to a loss of 1.1 share points for the category. Compared with February 2022, broadcast content viewing was down about 8%, and the category lost 2.2 share points.

Cable viewing decreased 5.7% versus January, which led to a loss of 0.2 share points to end the month with a 30.2% share of TV. Cable sports viewing declined over 34% in February despite events like the NFL Pro Bowl and NBA All Star Game. Cable news viewing rose slightly (2.4%) versus January, driven by activity around the State of the Union Address, and the genre remains the most-watched of the category, making up 18.6% of cable. On a year-over-year basis, time spent watching cable content declined 14.1% and the category has lost 5.1 share points.

* In order to more accurately reflect consumer viewing habits in The Gauge, beginning with data for February 2023 (current month), viewing that occurs through MVPD and vMVPD (virtual / multichannel video programming distributor) streaming apps (e.g. YouTube TV, Hulu Live, DirecTV, Charter/Spectrum), which primarily deliver live broadcast and cable programming, will no longer credit to the streaming category. Viewing to broadcast and cable content has always been reflected in the corresponding broadcast or cable category, including viewing that occurs via v/MVPD apps. Removing v/MVPD viewing from streaming ensures that it is not counted twice, therefore providing a more accurate representation of what audiences are watching. More information on the methodology update, including several months of trended data comparisons, can be found at nielsen.com/thegauge.

About The Gauge
The Gauge is Nielsen's monthly visualization of total TV and streaming usage in the U.S. It is underpinned by Nielsen's TV ratings service, in addition to Nielsen Streaming Platform Ratings which provides clients with audience measurement data that details the amount of time consumers spend streaming and on which platforms. This broad look at platform usage provides complimentary insights to Nielsen Streaming Content Ratings, which details viewing to subscription-based video on demand (SVOD) content at the title, program and episode levels. By showcasing both the micro and macro-level data sets, the industry has a full picture of how this media is being consumed, as well as when and by whom.

Nielsen's approach to audience measurement, which leverages a geographically representative panel of real people and big data, is built for the future of media consumption. With The Gauge, the future of TV consumption is visible in a single view. The latest edition of The Gauge is always available at www.nielsen.com/thegauge.

About Nielsen
Nielsen shapes the world's media and content as a global leader in audience measurement, data and analytics. Through our understanding of people and their behaviors across all channels and platforms, we empower our clients with independent and actionable intelligence so they can connect and engage with their audiences—now and into the future. Nielsen operates around the world in more than 55 countries. Learn more at www.nielsen.com and connect with us on social media (Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram).

SOURCE Nielsen