NBCUniversal’s Peacock registered a 1% share of viewing for the first time in December, as streaming lost share for the first time since February as reported by Nielsen.
Total TV usage in December was up 0.3% from November, but streaming’s share edged down to 38.1% from 38.2% in November (Nielsen said most of the dip was due to rounding). Cable and broadcast also lost share as video game usage increased.
Total time spent streaming was up 0.2% from November (and up 46.1% from a year ago), with HBO Max jumping 18.1%.
By scoring a 1% share, Nielsen will track Peacock in its monthly reports. Nielsen said the premiere of The Best Man: The Final Chapters, released just before Christmas, gave Peacock a boost.
But most of the other streaming services lost share in December with YouTube garnering 8.7% of viewing, down from 8.8%; Netflix at 7.5%, off from 7.6%; Hulu at 3.4%, down from 3.9%; Amazon Prime Video at 2.7%, up from 2.6%; Disney Plus with 1.9%, down from 2%, HBO Max 1.4%, up from 1.2%, Peacock at 1% and Pluto TV at 0.8%, down from 0.9%.
Broadcast’s share fell to 24.7% in December from 25.7% in November. Total usage was down 3.7% from November and up 0.3% from a year ago. Broadcast dramas were down 20% and sports were down 12.3%.
Cable share was 30.9% in December down from 31.8% in November. Cable news was down 10.2%. Time spent watching cable content was down 12% compared to a year ago.
Viewing of linear television on multichannel video programming distributor and virtual MVPD apps represented 5.3% of total television usage and 14.0% of streaming usage in December (compared with 5.8% and 15.2%, respectively, in November).
YouTube TV accounted for 14.3% of YouTube viewing (1.2 share points), and Hulu Live made up 10.1% of Hulu viewing (0.3 share points). Broadcast and cable content viewed through linear streaming apps also get credited in their respective categories. ■
