Pure-play streaming companies account for over a quarter of total TV in December.YouTube, Netflix and Amazon each achieve company-best shares of TV.
The December 2024 interval dates included 11/25/2024 through 12/29/2024. Nielsen reporting follows the broadcast calendar with measurement weeks that run Monday through Sunday.
NEW YORK - January 28, 2025 - Nielsen's December 2024 Media Distributor Gauge results were driven by a dynamic month for TV that included the seasonal uptick in demand for holiday movies, a large appetite for football with more games moving exclusively to streaming, and a post-election downturn in news viewing. These trends fueled five changes in the monthly rankings, with one distributor climbing two spots.
Disney claimed the largest share of TV viewing for a fourth straight month, ranking as the most-watched media distributor with 11.2% of total usage in December. Disney's 6% month-over-month gain was fueled by strong performances across its cable networks. Notable contributors included FX with a 45% surge, and Freeform, which nearly doubled its audience with its popular holiday movie marathons. Disney also benefited from football-driven gains on ESPN, as well as from Bluey on Disney+, which was the second-most watched streaming title of the month with 5.3 billion total viewing minutes during the December interval.
As mentioned in the December 2024 report of The Gauge, time spent watching YouTube on TV was up 7% in December, leading the streaming service to its best monthly share of total TV to date with 11.1% of time spent. This is YouTube's 10th consecutive month ranking as one of the top two media distributors.
Netflix exhibited a 14% monthly uptick in viewing versus November, leading it to notch 8.5% of total TV watch-time and tie its previous platform high. Netflix's gains were driven by the two Christmas Day NFL games, in addition to the nearly 15 billion viewing minutes accumulated by popular titles like Carry-On, Squid Game and Virgin River.
While FOX delivered the most-watched program across the month-the Thanksgiving Day NFL game between the Cowboys and the Giants, which drew 38.5 million viewers and 8.2 billion viewing minutes-it was hard to match the company-best record it set in November thanks to boosts from the World Series and presidential election coverage. The result of the absence was a 14% drop in viewership to finish December with 7.1% of TV.
Amazon reached a platform best 4.0% share of TV, as it benefited from hosting five NFL Thursday Night Football games, including one on Black Friday, during the December interval, as well as from its holiday blockbuster film Red One, which racked up 5.6 billion viewing minutes as the month's top streaming title.
The Roku Channel experienced a 10% increase, lifting it to a platform record of 2.0% of total TV time and climbing from tenth to ninth place among media companies. Meanwhile, AMC was up 24% in December on the strength of its month-long Christmas movie marathons.
December '24November '24October '24September '24August '24July '24June '24May '24April '24March '24February '24January '24December '23November '23Tab
About The Gauge The Gauge is Nielsen's monthly snapshot of total broadcast, cable and streaming consumption that occurs through a television screen, providing the industry with a holistic look at what audiences are watching. The Gauge was expanded in April 2024 to include The Media Distributor Gauge, which reflects total viewing by media distributor across these categories. Read more about The Gauge methodology and FAQs.
About NielsenNielsen is a global leader in audience measurement, data and analytics. Through our understanding of people and their behaviors across all channels and platforms, we empower our clients with independent and actionable intelligence so they can connect and engage with their global audiences-now and into the future. Learn more at www.nielsen.com and connect with us on social media (X, LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram).
Press ContactLauren Pabst
lauren.pabst@nielsen.com
More from Nielsen
11/09/2025
Warsaw, Poland, 20.08.25: Nielsen, the global leader in audience measurement, data and analytics, has released its latest July All Screens Video Landscape repor...
11/09/2025
Warner Bros. Discovery to add key Big Data and Advanced Audience capabilities fr...
09/09/2025
Streaming drives 55.8% of total TV time for Hispanic viewers,
outpacing 46% fo...
03/09/2025
New Gracenote Video MCP Server brings veracity and relevance to large language model-driven content discovery
NEW YORK - September 3, 2025 - Gracenote, the con...
02/09/2025
Big Data Panel Provides More Accurate Measurement
Data Than Ever Before
New...
27/08/2025
News and horror genres are biggest drivers of FAST expansion according to Gracen...
26/08/2025
YouTube Captures 13.4% of TV Viewing in Sixth Consecutive Month as the Top Media...
20/08/2025
Auckland, New Zealand - 19 August 2025: Nielsen, a global leader in audience measurement, data, and analytics, is pleased to announce a two-year extension for T...
20/08/2025
July, much like June, is a month marked by summer weather and vacations, which has reflected in a further decline in viewer activity in front of TV screens. The...
20/08/2025
During July, streaming's share of TV viewing in Mexico showed an increase of 0.9 percentage points compared to the previous month, accounting for 24.6% of T...
20/08/2025
Netflix, YouTube and The Roku Channel Each Hit Platform Highs
Netflix Owns 8 of...
20/08/2025
New collaboration brings granular audience insights from NMC so advertisers, agencies, and publishers can gain a better understanding of their audience
Now ava...
13/08/2025
Sydney - August 13, 2025 - Nielsen, a global leader in audience measurement, data, and analytics, today announced the upcoming launch of Connected TV (CTV) insi...
06/08/2025
Nielsen ONE planning unifies data, empowering both buy and sell sides to reach a...
06/08/2025
New advanced audience integration provides interoperability, helps brands reach their audiences.
NEW YORK - August 5, 2025 - Nielsen, a global leader in audien...
06/08/2025
Auckland - August 6, 2025 - Nielsen, a global leader in audience measurement and...
06/08/2025
NPR and Ocean Media Among Charter Subscribers
For the First Time Advertisers Ca...
01/08/2025
New open ecosystem in Nielsen ONE provides more holistic view
of an ad's o...
29/07/2025
Streaming Holds Steady in a Lighter Summer Viewership Season
NEW YORK - July 29...
23/07/2025
Netflix Posts Largest Monthly Increase Among Media Companies - Climbs to Largest...
22/07/2025
During June, streaming's share of TV viewing in Mexico showed a slight increase of 0.2 percentage points compared to the previous month, accounting for 23.7...
22/07/2025
Sydney - July 17, 2025 - Australia's leading financial brands have significantly increased their advertising investment, showing 16% year-on-year growth, ac...
21/07/2025
June, the first month of summer and the start of a vacation season, brought an expected decrease in viewer activity in front of TV screens. The latest data indi...
17/07/2025
NEW YORK - July 17, 2025 - Gracenote, the content data business unit of Nielsen, has announced the appointment of Ryan Moore to the new role of Chief Business O...
16/07/2025
Warsaw - Poland, June 24, 2025 - Nielsen, the global leader in audience measurement, data and analytics, has released its latest May All Screens Video Landscape...
16/07/2025
Bluey Tops Nielsen's Overall Streaming List with More Than 25 Billion Minutes Streamed from January through June 2025
Big June Vaults Squid Game into Top O...
15/07/2025
Netflix Viewing Up 13.5% vs. May, Represents 42% of Monthly Gain for Streaming
...
14/07/2025
UK launch set for September, following on from recent US and Germany releases
London - UK, July 14, 2025 - Nielsen, a global leader in audience measurement, da...
10/07/2025
NEW YORK - July 10, 2025 - Nielsen, the global leader in audience measurement, data and analytics, today announced that it appointed Richard Pacheco as head of ...
09/07/2025
Collaboration will result in improved data quality and understanding of genre-le...
25/06/2025
YouTube Extends Lead and Tops All Media Distributors for Fourth Consecutive Mont...
25/06/2025
Copenhagen, Denmark - June 25, 2025 - Nielsen, a global leader in audience measu...
24/06/2025
Initial enhancement comes in Germany, before roll out in further EMEA markets
LONDON, UK June 23, 2025 Nielsen, a global leader in audience measurement, da...
19/06/2025
May 2025 was a month packed with events that captivated viewers, from the presidential campaign in Poland to the international Eurovision Song Contest. It's...
19/06/2025
During May, streaming's share of TV viewing in Mexico showed a slight decrease of 0.8 percentage points compared to the previous month, accounting for 23.5%...
17/06/2025
Streaming Notches a Record 44.8% of Total TV Usage in May
Streaming Usage Up 71...
12/06/2025
Over a third of global football fans find brand sponsorship appealing and 41% of all sports sponsorships are in that sport.
The FIFA World Cup 2026TM will open...
05/06/2025
Show-level visibility and granular contextual targeting enabled by Gracenote gives brands more confidence in CTV buys
NEW YORK June 5, 2025 Gracenote, the...
04/06/2025
Viewership figures once again show appeal of important live sporting events
Mil...
03/06/2025
Nielsen and VIZIO's Inscape are extending their strategic data relationship, building on our collaboration that began in 2022. This multi-year agreement rei...
29/05/2025
Renewal Spans all 18 Local Fox Markets and Includes Streaming Measurement of Loc...
29/05/2025
Leading streamers expanded TV, movie and sports titles by 5% in Q2; Netflix led ...
27/05/2025
Mumbai, India
Brazil
Guadalajara, Mexico
Philippines
Poland
Throughout the month of April, Nielsen employees celebrated Global Volunteer Month with volunte...
27/05/2025
Paramount Exhibits Largest Monthly Increase in April's Media Distributor Gau...
22/05/2025
Sports fans can now seamlessly go between platforms and content types to follow favorite sports teams, live games and related content with Gracenote Nexus Auto
...
21/05/2025
The seventh annual report uncovers how marketers are adapting to market trends a...
21/05/2025
During April, streaming's share of TV viewing in Mexico showed a slight decrease of 0.1 percentage points compared to the previous month, accounting for 24....
21/05/2025
Streaming Accounts for 44.3% of TV viewing in April, vs. 45.3% for Broadcast and...
21/05/2025
The April 2025 data is in line with the seasonal trend observed in previous years. As in April last year, there was a decline in viewership associated with impr...
Pure-play streaming companies account for over a quarter of total TV in December.YouTube, Netflix and Amazon each achieve company-best shares of TV.
