Sports programming on major streaming platforms surges 52% year-over-year, according to Gracenote

New data also shows news content on FAST channels up 58% as streaming catalogs continue rapid expansion

NEW YORK - February 19, 2026 - Gracenote, the content data business unit of Nielsen, has found that sports program offerings across the top five subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) services jumped 52% year-over-year (YoY). This sharp increase, identified in the latest Gracenote Data Hub update, underscores the importance of sports content (live games related content) to providers' audience engagement strategies.

Paramount emerges as SVOD's top sports destination

Over the past year, Paramount has vaulted past Amazon Prime Video and Netflix to lead in streaming sports programming at the individual game and event level. Following its acquisition of UFC broadcast rights from ESPN starting in January 2026, the service now delivers more than twice the sports content of any SVOD platform, up 219% YoY. During the same period, the Disney sports catalog contracted 23%.

FAST channels proliferate, led by news and sports

Streaming content growth has extended beyond subscription platforms to no-cost, no-commitment services. Gracenote's analysis of 2,060 FAST channels available worldwide revealed that sports content on FAST grew 30% YoY. With more than 200 dedicated news channels now available, news programming on free ad-supported streaming services increased 58%. Movies and TV shows available on FAST rose 26% and 24% YoY respectively.

About The Gracenote Data Hub

Launched in November 2024, the Gracenote Data Hub provides insight into the content available on leading global SVOD services and FAST channels. The resource taps Gracenote Global Video Data, the industry's most comprehensive database of TV and movie information which powers advanced content search, discovery and recommendations capabilities. Updated quarterly, the Hub's visualizations reveal how leading SVOD catalogs and FAST channels are evolving over time and what these shifts signal.

About Gracenote Gracenote is the content data business unit of Nielsen, providing entertainment metadata, content IDs and related offerings to the world's leading creators, distributors and platforms. Gracenote has aggregated, normalized and enriched core program metadata covering 50M titles in 260 streaming catalogs in 70 languages and 80 countries. Gracenote technology enables advanced content navigation and discovery capabilities helping individuals to easily connect to the TV shows, movies, music and sports they love while delivering powerful content analytics making complex business decisions simpler. For more information, visit Gracenote.com or follow us on LinkedIn.

Media Contact Mark Yamada

mark.yamada@nielsen.com

LINK:	https://www.nielsen.com/news-center/2026/sports-programming-on-major-s...
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