NFL, World Series, Other Sports Help Broadcast Get a Bigger Share of Viewing in October, Nielsen Says

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Netflix usage falls 5.6% despite it having 8 of the top 10 streaming titles

Philadelphia Eagles at New York Jets on Oct. 18, 2023
The Oct. 18 Philadelphia Eagles-New York Jets game drew big Nielsen numbers for CBS. (Image credit: Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

Despite a lack of new scripted programming because of the actors’ strike, broadcast viewing increased in October as viewers flocked to live sports telecasts, according to Nielsen.

Overall, October TV usage increased 2% from September, with broadcast viewing up 9.4%.  

October marked the third consecutive month of broadcast growth, increasing stations’ share of TV usage to 24.6% from 23% in September.

Broadcast sports was up 15% and made up nearly 30% of all broadcast viewership, with NFL games and the World Series drawing viewers.

Dramas made up 18% of broadcast viewing in October, down from 27%

Compared to a year ago broadcast viewership is down 4.6%.

Cable viewership edged up 0.9% in October, boosted by a 19% increase in sports viewing and a 17% jump in news viewing. Despite the sports and news increases, cable’s share of TV usage dipped to 29.5% in October from 29.8% in September.

Compared to a year ago, cable usage is down 5.6%.

Streaming was down 0.6% in October, finishing the month with 36.6% of total TV usage, down from 37.5% in September.

Nielsen October

(Image credit: NIelsen)

Netflix usage was down 5.6% despite it having eight of the top 10 streaming titles.

The top streaming show was Suits, the former USA series now on Netflix and Peacock. But Suits viewing was down by one-third from September.

Prime Video got a boost from Thursday Night Football and was up 1% in October.

Among the streamers, YouTube had the largest share with 9.1%, up from 9% in September.

Netflix’s share of TV usage dipped to 7.2% from 7.8%.

Amazon Prime Video had a 3.6% share, unchanged; Hulu’s share was 3.1%, up from 3.6%; Disney Plus was as at 1.9%, unchanged; Tubi had a 1.3% share, unchanged; Max was at 1.2%, unchanged; Peacock had a 1.1% share, unchanged; The Roku Channel generated 1.1% of TV use, unchanged; Paramount Plus had 0.9% share, down from 1%, and Pluto TV had 0.8% of viewing, flat from September.

Linear (live TV) streaming via MVPD (multichannel video programming distributors) and vMVPDs (virtual multichannel video programming distributors) apps accounted for 6.4% of total television usage in October. 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.