Streaming Climbs To Nearly 50% Of July TV Usage, Says Nielsen

It’s summertime and streaming is hot, so hot that its share of television usage has grown close to the 50% mark.

Streaming share in July hit a record 47.3%, up from 46% in June, according to Nielsen’s monthly report.. 

YouTube, the streamer with the largest share of TV usage, saw its share continue to rise to 13.4% from 12.8% in June.  YouTube viewing climbed 2% among young people, aged 18 to 24.

Netflix also had a big month, notching 7 of the top 10 streaming shows, including No. 1 Squid Game. 

Squid Game racked up 5.4 billion viewing minutes. Other big Netflix July title including Blindspot, Untamed, Animal KIngdom, KPop Demon Hunters, Sullivan’s Crossing and Happy Gilmore 2.

The performance of those shows helped increase Netflix viewing by 5%, giving it an 8.8 share of TV viewing, its highest ever, and up from 8.3% in June. 

Peacock had the No. 2 streaming show with Love Island USA, which generated 5.3 million viewing minutes. Peacock viewing in July was up 3% from June and its share of viewing hit 1.6%, up from 1.5%. 

Another big winner in July was The Roku Channel, with a 7.5% increase in viewing. The Roku Channel’s share hit 2.8%, up from 2.5%.

Among the other biggest streamers, Disney’s services garnered a 4.7% share, down from 4.8% in June; Amazon Prime Video had 3.8%, up from 3.6%; Fox’s Tubi had 2.2%, unchanged; Paramount’s Paramount+ and Pluto had 1.9%, down from 2% and Warner Bros. Discovery got 1.5%, up from 1.4%. 

How about broadcast and cable? According to Nielsen, they were affected by “standard summer programming slates,” which were light on sports and original shows. 

Broadcast’s share dropped to 18.4% from 18.5% in June. Broadcast news viewing was up 28%, with ABC World News Tonight getting 19 of the top 20 broadcasts in the month. The Major League Baseball All-Star Game on Fox was the 13th most watched broadcast.

Cable’s share plunged to 22.2% from 23.4 % in June. Cable news viewing was down 11% and sports viewing fell 17% with the end of the NBA playoffs. ESPN’s coverage of MLB’s Home Run Derby  was the top cable telecast with 5.3 million viewers.

Broadcast and cable are expected to gain viewing when new seasons of original shows and sports return in the fall, NIelsen said.

Officially, Nielsen’s July runs from June 30 to July 27. 

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Digital out-of-home programmatic platform AdOmni said it has added artificial intelligence tools that enable self-service users to set up campaigns in as little as 5 minutes. 

AdOmni’s AI, dubbed Jeen, instantly generates expert-level campaign strategies, forecast spend and recommends an inventory mix, the company said.

Campaigns generated by Jeen AI can be expanded to cTV and online video for a multi-screen execution.

"For too long, planning a DOOH campaign has been perceived as a complex, expensive process reserved for large brands with big budgets," said Jonathan Gudai, CEO of AdOmni and a leading voice in AI innovation for the industry. "We're changing that. Just as Google and Meta made digital ad buying accessible to every business, AdOmni is democratizing real-world media like DOOH and CTV. Jeen AI removes the complexity, allowing any marketer to launch a powerful, data-driven campaign in minutes, not days".

To help small- to mid-sized companies, campaign can be launched with a credit card, eliminating the need fro contracts or credit lines, AdOmni said.

“DOOH used to feel out of reach for many of our clients. Jeen AI changes that; making it fast, affordable, and targeted, while still letting us guide the strategy and ensure the campaigns fit into a bigger marketing vision,” said Damon Henry, CEO of Kortx, a Detroit-based digital advertising and marketing agency.