The broadcast viewing segment had its best month since November 2024, with its TV share improving to 22.9%, according to Nielsen’s October monthly gauge report.
Football, in particular the NFL, continued to be the fuel for broadcast’s growth, as the Sunday games on CBS, Fox, and NBC claimed the top three overall program rankings, with over 20 million viewers each (L+7).
How impactful is the NFL in affecting viewership? Consider this: The broadcast segment in October (Monday through Saturday) averaged 22.0% of TV viewing time. On Sunday alone, that number jumps to 27.3%.
Meanwhile, cable and streaming viewership were slightly up Monday through Saturday but noticeably lower on Sundays.
According to Nielsen’s Media Distributor Gauge, streaming remained the No. 1 preferred TV viewing format, accounting for 45.7% of usage in October. It improved from its September showing, up by +0.5%.
The combined linear segment of broadcast and cable had a share of 45.1%, a +0.5% uptick from its September performance. Broadcast stood at 22.9%, up +0.6% from the previous month, and cable’s share was 22.2%, down -0.1% from the previous month.
Meanwhile, the Other category saw the sharpest fall of the month, down -1.1% to 9.1% for October.
A closer look at the streaming category for October reveals that YouTube remained in first place among streaming services, accounting for 12.9% of all viewing. Compared to its September performance, which stood at 12.6%, YouTube’s growth was +0.3%.
At No. 2 was Netflix with 8.0% of all total streaming consumption. This represented a -0.3% decrease compared to the previous month.
The Disney group of streaming channels, comprising Disney+, ESPN+, and Hulu SVOD, followed with 4.8%, up +0.3% from September. It was followed by Amazon’s Prime Video, which dropped by -0.1% to 3.8%.
The Roku Channel finished October flat at 2.8%, while Tubi rose by +0.1% to 2.2% of all streaming consumption. They were followed by the consortium of Paramount+ and PlutoTV, comprising Paramount Global’s streaming platforms, which also posted a +0.1% gain to stand at 2.1% for October.
NBCUniversal’s streaming service, Peacock, grew by +0.2% to 1.6%. Warner Bros. Discovery’s streaming services, comprising HBO Max and Discovery+, remained steady with a 1.3% share of streaming consumption.
Finally, the Other streaming category also stood pat at 6.3% in October.
See the media distribution ranking below:
The October 2025 interval spanned four weeks, from 09/29/2025 through 10/26/2025. Nielsen reporting follows the broadcast calendar, with weekly intervals beginning on Monday.
