Cable, Streaming Usage Rose in December, Nielsen Reports

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Shares fall as kids take to video-game consoles

'Young Sheldon' stars Iain Armitage as young Sheldon Cooper of 'The Big Bang Theory.'
‘Young Sheldon’ was the most-streamed show in December. (Image credit: CBS)

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.

Broadcast viewing fell 4.3% — the first drop since July — and its share of TV usage dropped to 23.5% from 24.9% in November. Sports represented 28.5% of broadcast viewing.

Compared to a year ago, broadcast usage was down 5.9%.

Cable usage was up 1.3% but cable’s share of viewing dipped to 28.2% from 28.3% in November. Feature fils was the top cable genre with a 21.4% share. Sports viewing grew 8.4% with ESPN’s December 30 Detroit Lions-Dallas Cowboys game drawing 11 million viewers. 

Cable viewing was down 9.7% from a year ago in December.

Streaming was up 1.2% but its share of TV usage declined to 35.9% from 36.1% a year ago. Viewing by people age 18 to 24 was up 2.7%.

Time spent watching YouTube on TV was down 3.4%, while Netflix (up 6%) and Tubi (up 6.6%) showed gains.

Nielsen December 2023

(Image credit: Nielsen)

The top streaming titles were Young Sheldon (on several streaming services) and Leave The World Behind on Netflix.

YouTube remained the top streamer on TV with an 8.5% share of viewing, down from 9% last month.

Nielsen’s “other” category, including video gaming, gained in share to 12,5% from 10.7%.

Netflix share rose to 7.7% from 7.4%, Amazon Prime Video had a 3.3% share, down from 3.4%; Hulu had a 2.6% of TV usage, down from 2.7%; Disney Plus’ share was 1.9%, unchanged; Tubi had 1.4%, unchanged; Peacock garnered 1.3%, the same as in November; Max held steady with a 1.2%; Paramount Plus had 0.9%, unchanged and Pluto TV dropped to 0.7% from 0.8%.

Linear (live TV) streaming via MVPD (multichannel video programming distributors) and vMVPD (virtual multichannel video programming distributors) apps represented 6% of total television usage in December. Linear streaming is included in the appropriate broadcast or cable category, and is not included in the streaming category.

Jon Lafayette
Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.