Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Holidays, Football and Blockbusters Drive Record Highs for YouTube, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video in December, according to The Gauge

21/01/2025

Four days in December interval exceed 100 billion viewing minutes of TV.

Netflix 14% on strength of NFL Christmas Day games, Carry-On' and Squid Game.'

Prime Video notches platform-best 4.0% of TV, led by Red One' with 5.6 billion viewing minutes.

YouTube achieves record-setting share with 11.1% of TV watch time.

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 21, 2025 - The Gauge's December 2024 interval was bookended by the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, both of which are historically known for accumulating high volumes of TV viewing. These drivers contributed to a 4% increase in overall time spent watching television compared with November, with each holiday also accounting for two of the four days in the interval to exceed 100 billion TV viewing minutes. In total, 2024 included nine days with over 100 billion TV viewing minutes, compared with 13 in 2023.

Thanksgiving and Christmas Day also hosted the top six most watched telecasts of the month. These included the three Thanksgiving NFL games, led by the Giants vs. Cowboys on FOX with 38.5 million viewers, followed at No. 4 by NBC's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade with 23.8 million viewers. The fifth and sixth top telecasts belonged to Netflix in its NFL debut on Christmas Day, whose two games each drew over 23 million viewers and helped bolster an already strong month for the streamer.

Netflix accounted for 8.5% of total TV viewing in December, tying its platform best share set in July 2023. Netflix notched a 14% increase over the previous interval, and while some of that was attributable to the two NFL games, calculations showed the streamer's monthly usage would have been up 11% even if contributions from the games were excluded. Netflix benefited from its action thriller film Carry-On, which generated 5.2 billion viewing minutes from Dec. 13 29 and achieved the third-most streamed title of the interval. It also received a boost following the Season 2 premiere of Squid Game, which accumulated 4.9 billion viewing minutes in the final week of the interval and also notched the highest weekly total (measured Monday through Sunday) for any streaming title in 2024.

On top of a 7.6% increase in November, streaming viewership climbed another 9% in December and the category secured a new Gauge record with 43.4% of total TV watch time. In addition to Netflix, nearly all reported streaming platforms exhibited gains and several achieved platform bests:

YouTube viewing was up 7% to propel the platform to a record 11.1% share of TV usage.

Prime Video 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. Prime Video also saw success from its new original reality series Beast Games starring Jimmy MrBeast Donaldson, with over 700 million viewing minutes accumulated across its first three episodes.

Max garnered an 18% monthly viewing increase in December, the largest among all streaming platforms, with upticks driven by its deep library of available shows like The Big Bang Theory and Friends, as well as newcomer Dune Prophecy.

The broadcast and cable categories were notably football-heavy in December, and each saw monthly increases in sports viewership of 17% and 29%, respectively, due to games across the NFL, various college bowl games, and the first round of the College Football Playoffs. The cable category also received an 18% bump in feature film viewing (on top of a 14% increase in November). Both categories, however, had to contend with seasonal-related declines: Broadcast networks pulled back on scripted dramas during the holiday season, resulting in an 18% dip in that genre, and cable news, following the end of the presidential election cycle, dropped by 27%. Overall, broadcast and cable viewing accounted for 22.4% and 23.8% of December TV watch time, respectively, and 46.2% of TV viewing combined.

Note: Over the past year, Disney has made Hulu and ESPN content available within the Disney app for certain subscribers. This integration could affect crediting between Disney's streaming properties as it relates to The Gauge. To resolve this, Disney , Hulu and ESPN viewing will be aggregated into a single total represented as Disney Streaming beginning with the January 2025 Gauge report.

--

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 Nielsen

Nielsen 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 Contact

Lauren Pabst

lauren.pabst@nielsen.com
LINK: https://www.nielsen.com/news-center/2025/holidays-football-and-blockbu...
See more stories from arbitron

Most recent headlines

06/10/2025

France Tlvisions Wins Prestigious 2025 EBU Technology & Innovation Award in Groundbreaking Collaboration with Dalet

France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...

04/09/2025

Monumental Sports & Entertainment and Dalet Win Prestigious 2025 NAB Show Project of the Year Award

Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...

15/06/2025

Music Production for Women free in-person workshops

July 2025 in Dublin, Berlin, Amsterdam & London Photo: Thea Martre Music Production for Women (MPW) have announced that they will be running a series of fo...

15/06/2025

Jason's Piano & API Drums instruments from Sulcata Sound

Composer/producer launches free virtual instruments Sulcata Sound is the latest venture of Jason Graves, a two-time British Academy Award-winnning composer,...

14/06/2025

Pluto TV Adds All Womens Sports Network's FAST Channel

NEW YORK Pluto TV and the All Womens Sports Network have launched a free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) AWSN channel in the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and the Nor...

14/06/2025

Scripps Inks Multiyear Agreement for WNBA Games on Ion

NEW YORK and CINCINNATI E.W. Scripps has announced a new, multiyear agreement with the WNBA that will continue Ions regular-season coverage of the league on Fri...

14/06/2025

NAB Highlights Hidden Importance of Spectrum in Major Sports Broadcasting

WASHINGTON The National Association of Broadcasters highlighted the hidden importance of spectrum in the production of major sporting events and described wha...

14/06/2025

1.0 Sunset, BPS and NextGen Broadcast's Potential Dominate ATSC Meeting

WASHINGTON Sunsetting ATSC 1.0, expanding business opportunities for NextGen Broadcast and increasing international adoption of the ATSC 3.0 standard were top o...

14/06/2025

Samba TV and Acxiom Announce Massive 40-market Global Expansion

SAN FRANCISCO Samba TV and Acxiom have announced that they will dramatically expand their longstanding relationship....

14/06/2025

MPW announce free in-person workshops

July 2025 in Dublin, Berlin, Amsterdam & London Photo: Thea Martre Music Production for Women (MPW) have announced that they will be running a series of fo...

14/06/2025

San Francisco State University's School of Cinema Uses Blackmagic Design

San Francisco State University's School of Cinema Uses Blackmagic Design Brie Clayton June 13, 2025 0 Comments More than 40 Blackmagic Design came...

14/06/2025

Boris FX Mocha Pro Adds New AI Tools To Tackle VFX Tasks Fast

Boris FX Mocha Pro Adds New AI Tools To Tackle VFX Tasks Fast Jessie Electa Petrov June 13, 2025 0 Comments The 2025.5 release helps artists work more...

14/06/2025

AJA Debuts DRM2-Plus Mini-Converter Frame at InfoComm 2025

AJA Debuts DRM2-Plus Mini-Converter Frame at InfoComm 2025 Brie Clayton June 13, 2025 0 Comments Next-gen frame addresses diverse rackmount needs wit...

13/06/2025

Prime Minister: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at a Leader Who Champions Kindness

(L-R) Lindsay Utz, Michelle Walshe, and The Right Honourable Dame Jacinda Ardern attend the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Prime Minister at Eccles T...

13/06/2025

Materialists' Director Celine Song Reveals the Inspirations Behind the Film's Soundtrack

Photo credit: Atsushi Nishijima If you're a true lover of rom-coms, chances...

13/06/2025

Pure Drama and Fierce Rivalries set to dominate the world's most iconic sporting event

Pure Drama and Fierce Rivalries set to dominate the world's most iconic spor...

13/06/2025

Press Release: NFVF Opens Call for Public Film Screenings on GBV Awareness as South Africa Confronts Ongoing Femicide Crisis

Johannesburg, 12 June 2025 - The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an a...

13/06/2025

Central Texas Storm Knocks out KTXS Tower, Severely Damages Building

ABILENE. Texas A severe storm knocked down the tower and severely damaged the news studio and main facility of Sinclair-owned KTXS here on Sunday, June 8....

13/06/2025

Berklee's Music Business/Management Department Recognized by the Music Biz Association

Berklee's Music Business/Management Department Recognized by the Music Biz A...

13/06/2025

ATSC Honors Aldo Cugnini, Clarence Hau

WASHINGTON The ATSC, the Broadcast Standards Association, honored veteran technologist Aldo Cugnini and Clarence Hau, Senior Vice President of Standards, Policy...

13/06/2025

ESPN Doubles Down on Immersive Fan Experience for UFL Championship

(Editor's note: The 2025 UFL Championship Game between the D.C. Defenders and Michigan Panthers kicks off Saturday, June 14, at 8 p.m. Eastern. The game wil...

13/06/2025

Soulyft Audio release Chime

New iPad/iPhone synth App announced Following on from last year's release of Gradient Synth - which reached #6 on the App Store's Paid Music charts ...

13/06/2025

HBO Max Plans July Launches in 12 New Markets

LONDON Warner Bros. Discovery has announced that HBO Max will launch direct-to-consumer in multiple new countries this July as the streamer becomes available in...

13/06/2025

Verbit Launches Speaker Identification for Live ASR Broadcast Captions

AI voice transcription and captioning platform Verbit has added a new feature to its Captivate ASR solution the ability to identify specific features in automat...

13/06/2025

FCC's Anna Gomez Meets with TV Networks, Studio Execs and Unions

WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission member Anna Gomez has wrapped up two weeks in California visiting broadcasters, television studio executives, enter...

13/06/2025

House Passes Rescission Package That Would Claw Back CPB Funding

WASHINGTON The U.S. House of Representatives voted mostly along party lines to approve a rescission package that would cancel $9.4 billion in previously approve...

13/06/2025

AJA Debuts DRM2-Plus Mini-Converter Frame at InfoComm 202...

At InfoComm 2025, AJA Video Systems announced DRM2-Plus, an intuitive, high-capacity 3RU frame that can neatly house up to 24 AJA Mini-Converters. Tailored to s...

13/06/2025

National CineMedia Selects Operatives Suite of AI-Based C...

Cinema advertising leader to leverage AOS and suite of AI-enabled solutions to optimize forecasting, yield management, and streamlined ad sales and operations a...

13/06/2025

Manfrotto Unveils Unique New Tripod System for Mirrorless...

Manfrotto has launched the ONE Hybrid Tripod, a new support system designed specifically for professional content creators working with mirrorless cameras acros...

13/06/2025

Synamedia unveils security enhancements to its Media Edge...

Leading video software provider, Synamedia, today announced that its Media Edge Gateway (MEG), an ATSC 3.0 software-based IRD, now supports Device Security requ...

13/06/2025

LiveU Strengthens Presence in DACH Region with Strategic...

LiveU, the global leader in live IP-video contribution, production and distribution solutions, is deepening its commitment to the German-speaking market with th...

13/06/2025

Chaos Adds AI Tools Faster Animation Renders and More Sty...

Chaos, the leader in architectural visualisation software, today announces Chaos Corona 13, giving archviz designers new ways to add eye-catching style and flai...

13/06/2025

PALI's Nena Music Video Shot with Blackmagic Design

PALI's Nena Music Video Shot with Blackmagic Design Brie Clayton June 12, 2025 0 Comments Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K and DaVinci Resolve Studio b...

13/06/2025

OddBeast Powers Up iRobot's Newest Roombas with Suite of CGI Launch Assets

OddBeast Powers Up iRobot's Newest Roombas with Suite of CGI Launch Assets Brie Clayton June 12, 2025 0 Comments The motion design and production ...

13/06/2025

On Chick Coreas Birthday, a Newly Uncovered Archival Release

On Chick Coreas Birthday, a Newly Uncovered Archival Release The Visitors, composed by Corea and performed by vibraphonist Gary Burton and pianist Kirill Gers...

13/06/2025

RT Seeks Expressions of Interest for on-air presenting roles on RT Radio 1 and RT News & Current Affairs Output

In fulfilment of a recommendation by the Government's Expert Advisory Commit...

13/06/2025

SVG Sit-Down: Backblaze's Gleb Budman Talks Products, Partnerships, and the Growth in Cloud Storage

SVG Sit-Down: Backblaze's Gleb Budman Talks Products, Partnerships, and the ...

13/06/2025

SVG Sit-Down: DAZN's Walker Jacobs Calls Streaming the FIFA Club World Cup The Most Ambitious Thing We've Ever Done in the U.S.'

SVG Sit-Down: DAZN's Walker Jacobs Calls Streaming the FIFA Club World Cup ...

13/06/2025

New Sponsor Spotlight: Vecima Networks' Paul Strickland on How Improving QoE for Sports Fans Can Deliver Real ROI

New Sponsor Spotlight: Vecima Networks' Paul Strickland on How Improving QoE...

13/06/2025

Pitch Perspective: Where's Next for Specialty Cameras in Soccer?

Pitch Perspective: Where's Next for Specialty Cameras in Soccer? Leaders from Sky Austria and ACS discuss the possibilities of camera placement pitchside B...

13/06/2025

Premiership Rugby Final 2025: Vintage Clash Between Bath and Leicester Gets Full TNT Sports Treatment with AR, RefCam 3.0 and Player Mic

Premiership Rugby Final 2025: Vintage clash between Bath and Leicester gets full...

13/06/2025

Premiership Rugby Final 2025: TNT Sports Gears Up for Bath vs Leicester Battle with Huge Uptick in Season Audience Views

Premiership Rugby Final 2025: TNT Sports gears up for Bath vs Leicester battle w...

13/06/2025

NCAA Men's College World Series: ESPN Adds Two-Point SupraCam, Invests in Nearly 100 Mics to Enhance Audio

NCAA Men's College World Series: ESPN Adds Two-Point SupraCam, Invests in Ne...

13/06/2025

New FSWX signal and spectrum analyzer with novel architecture overcomes limits of todays analysis methods

New FSWX signal and spectrum analyzer with novel architecture overcomes limits o...

13/06/2025

2025-05-28

Apple today announced the addition of iPad to Self Service Repair, providing iPad owners with access to repair manuals, genuine Apple parts, Apple Diagnostics t...

13/06/2025

2025-06-09

CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA Apple today previewed iOS 26, a major update that brings a beautiful new design, intelligent experiences, and improvements to the apps use...

13/06/2025

2025-06-10

At Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), Apple unveiled Apple Games, an all-new destination designed to help players jump back into the games they...

13/06/2025

NVIDIA and Deutsche Telekom Partner to Advance Germany's Sovereign AI

Industrial AI isn't slowing down. Germany is ready. Following London Tech Week and GTC Paris at VivaTech, NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang's Europea...

12/06/2025

Spotify's Heart & Soul Initiative Brings Mental Health Support to Artists and Creators Worldwide

In 2018, Spotify launched Heart & Soul, a mental health initiative developed to ...

12/06/2025

50 Years Strong: SBS and NITV Supercharge NAIDOC Week 2025 in a joint 50th celebration

50 Years Strong: SBS and NITV Supercharge NAIDOC Week 2025 in a joint 50th celeb...