Audiences Watched Over 103 Billion Minutes of TV on Thanksgiving Day
NFL Games Drive Broadcast Sports to Record High TV Usage, Fuel Double-Digit Growth For Multi-Platform Distributors on Peacock and Paramount
November Yields Five of Top 10 Most Streamed Days on Record, and 10th Best Day for Broadcast Viewership in Gauge History
Stranger Things' Generates Nearly 12 Billion Viewing Minutes on Netflix as November's Most-Streamed Title, Equivalent to More than 22,000 Years of Viewing
NEW YORK - December 16, 2025 - November 2025 delivered one of the most historic months to date in Nielsen's report of The Gauge , the media industry's leading snapshot of total TV and streaming consumption. The five-week reporting interval produced a 5.5% monthly increase in television usage, with live sports driving broadcast to its best share of TV since last November, while simultaneously fueling double-digit growth for hybrid streamers like Peacock and Paramount .
Thanksgiving Day is the centerpiece of November television viewing, and this year was no exception, as audiences watched 103.4 billion minutes of TV across the day and highlighted the various viewing behavior trends. Linear streaming* on Thanksgiving represented 10.1% of total TV usage to achieve the second-highest level of daily linear streaming ever, surpassed only by Super Bowl Sunday in February 2025. By comparison, linear streaming totaled 7.8% of TV usage across the month. Additionally, Thanksgiving was the broadcast category's 10th-most-watched day since the inception of The Gauge in May 2021.
Broadcast extended its momentum in November, with viewership increasing 7% versus October to capture 23.2% of TV and outpace cable for a third consecutive month. Broadcast gains were driven overwhelmingly by a 30% monthly increase in sports viewing, specifically from the back-half of the MLB World Series on FOX, plus NFL and college football on ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC. And despite accounting for just 3% of broadcast content by duration, sports commanded 37% of all broadcast viewership in November and 6.4% of total TV usage-the highest share for the genre ever recorded in The Gauge. NFL coverage drew more younger audiences into the broadcast ecosystem as well, with viewing for the under-30 group up 21% this month, and viewing for kids 2-11 up 27%.
The sports effect was just as potent in streaming, as multi-platform distributors continued to demonstrate how live sports are fueling a unified viewership ecosystem:
Peacock posted the strongest monthly growth among streaming platforms in November, soaring 22% on the strength of its NFL Sunday Night Football coverage and Thanksgiving Day programming. Peacock's Thanksgiving featured simulcasts of NBC's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and a primetime NFL game, the platform averaged 2.4 million viewers across the day, trailing only YouTube and Netflix (compared to individual platform totals). Peacock also benefited from new original drama series All Her Fault, which generated 2.4 billion minutes. The overall impact lifted Peacock to a non-Olympic record 1.9% share of television ( 0.3 pts.).
Paramount (within Paramount Streaming) jumped 18.4% month over month, driven by NFL games alongside the return of its original series Landman. These gains lifted the combined Paramount Streaming portfolio to a 2.3% share of television ( 0.2 pts.).
In addition to live sports, November also exhibited a striking example of broadcast and streaming convergence. The Thanksgiving Day NFL matchup between the Chiefs and Cowboys on CBS generated 11.7 billion viewing minutes and was the top broadcast telecast of the month. Meanwhile, Stranger Things on Netflix totaled 11.8 billion viewing minutes across the entire month. Despite being viewed live versus on-demand, the end results were nearly identical as each accounted for more than 22,000 years of cumulative television viewing by U.S. audiences.
Overall, streaming usage grew 8% in November and captured 46.7% of total TV watch-time. This month also featured five of the top ten most-streamed days ever recorded, led by Saturday, November 29, which now ranks second all-time with 47.6 billion minutes streamed, behind the 51 billion minutes clocked on Christmas Day 2024. Most impactful to the overall November streaming landscape, however, was Netflix's Stranger Things, whose nearly 12 billion viewing minutes propelled Netflix to a 10% monthly increase, adding 0.3 share points to finish with 8.3% of total TV. The Roku Channel also posted a standout performance, rising 9% overall and benefiting from a 23% jump among viewers ages 25-34. The gains lifted the platform to a record 2.9% share of television.
Meanwhile, cable usage dipped 3% to a 20.5% share, exhibiting its lowest monthly total to date. While NFL games on ESPN remained top performers, the category felt the absence of the MLB playoffs, which caused the cable sports genre to retract by 42%. The category was buoyed slightly by holiday spirit, however, as the cable movie genre saw a 22% increase in viewership.
* Linear streaming is defined as live broadcast and cable content viewed through MVPD/vMVPD services like YouTube TV and cable provider apps. Linear streaming is excluded from the streaming category in The Gauge.
The November 2025 interval spanned five weeks, from 10/27/2025 through 11/30/2025. Nielsen reporting follows the broadcast calendar, with weekly intervals beginning on Monday.
--
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 abo
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
19/08/2026
As the cost of IP nears price parity with traditional SDI, Reynolds argues that ...
19/08/2026
A private 5G bubble was chosen instead of traditional broadcast RF for the race ...
19/08/2026
(L-R) Rafael Manuel and Isabel Sicat attend the Filipi ana premiere during the 2026 Sundance Film Festival at The Ray Theatre on January 23, 2026, in Park Cit...
19/08/2026
Studio owners invited to have their say on rates cuts
The Music Producers Guild (MPG) are inviting UK-based studios to take part in an in-depth survey that ...
19/08/2026
Vintage-inspired desktop interface revealed
Harrison's latest hardware offering sees them head into the world of audio interfaces, delivering a 10-in/12...
19/08/2026
Granular effect remains locked to scale and tempo
Described as your dream granular effect , Minimal Audio's latest creation is capable of turning any s...
19/08/2026
First polyphonic SWAM instrument incoming
Audio Modeling's latest physical-modelling orchestral instrument is just around the corner, and is now availab...
19/08/2026
World Cup Games Generate 84 Billion Minutes Across FOX, Fox Sports 1 and NBCU...
19/08/2026
July brought typical peak-holiday drops in viewership, driven primarily by viewers stepping away from screens and a visible decline in reach across both traditi...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Henry joins BCE as the company accelerates its commercial strategy and expands its international presence across the media, broadcast and technology markets. He...
19/08/2026
iWedia, a leading provider of software solutions for connected TV devices, today announced a major milestone in Android platform optimization with the successfu...
19/08/2026
NTP Technology announces that ST 2110-30 audio-over-IP connectivity with AES67 and RAVENNA capabilities is now available for the brand's world-class audio i...
19/08/2026
Net Insight has been selected to provide its Nimbra platform by the service provider Big Blue Marble, formerly ORS Group, as the core media transport solution f...
19/08/2026
LiveU has supported Coventry City FC and several other top-flight UK football clubs through one of their most demanding live production challenges of the year, ...
19/08/2026
Nature Seekers Documentary Shot with Blackmagic URSA Cine 12K LF
Brie Clayton August 18, 2026
0 Comments
Filming endangered turtles required camera...
19/08/2026
Neyrinck Brings D-Control Consoles Back to Life on Apple Silicon with D-Control ...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Riedel Communications today announced that Edith Cowan University (ECU) in Perth, Australia, implemented a comprehensive communications infrastructure that brin...
19/08/2026
QuickLink, a leading provider of award-winning video production and remote guest contribution solutions, will spotlight a major leap forward in remote guest con...
19/08/2026
Integrated platform melds media asset management, playout automation and newsroom workflows
EMAM, PlayBox Neo and SNEWS have officially launched Nuvex, a conne...
19/08/2026
Screen Australia releases the Private Investment Toolkit to strengthen screen in...
19/08/2026
Do Aussies truly value local content? Unpacking Screen Currency 2026 with Deirdr...
19/08/2026
There's an early Christmas gift for Bookish fans, as UKTV confirms the re-commission of the hit U&alibi drama, created by and starring Mark Gatiss. Viewers ...
19/08/2026
Wednesday 19 August 2026
Sky gives sports fans the chance to watch multiple liv...
19/08/2026
On Saturday September 5 Katie Taylor will step into the ring for the fight of her life against Flora Pili in front of 80,000 fans in Croke Park. A legendary fig...
18/08/2026
SportStream 2026, a free three-day virtual event, will take place September 15-17. One registration provides access to all three days of live programming and on...
18/08/2026
BeckTV will introduce BeckFlow to the European market at IBC2026, demonstrated on the Providius stand (10.F53).
BeckFlow is a web-based schematic documentation...
18/08/2026
Boland Communications will introduce a SMPTE ST 2110 input option for its 4K monitors at IBC2026, along with a new 55-inch super-narrow bezel display for video ...
18/08/2026
Dolby Laboratories and the Seattle Seahawks have announced a partnership integrating Dolby OptiView into the Seahawks' live streaming coverage, making the S...
18/08/2026
For BMG Executive Producer of Sports Production, Graham Taylor, producing live s...
18/08/2026
TMRW Sports has appointed Rufus Hack as President of Golf, a newly created role in which he will lead the company's golf businesses including TGL presented ...
18/08/2026
SMT will provide race technology for FOX Sports' coverage of the Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C. on August 23, when the NTT INDYCAR SERIES races ...
18/08/2026
The live, YouTube-native roundtables combine fan voices, credentialed reporters,...
18/08/2026
Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, includ...
18/08/2026
The industry legend sounds off on replacing the Heat's iconic Medusa score...
18/08/2026
William F. Rasmussen, the sports fan-turned broadcaster and entrepreneur whose out-of-the-box idea of a 24-hour cable sports network, ESPN, changed forever the ...
18/08/2026
DAZN Group has completed its acquisition of ViewLift, a provider of streaming and digital solutions for sports content owners. The acquisition was first announc...
18/08/2026
The American Association of Professional Baseball (AAPB) has added SI TV, Sports Illustrated's 24/7 streaming channel, as a broadcast partner for the remain...
18/08/2026
The Esports Foundation has announced that the inaugural Esports Nations Cup (ENC), originally scheduled for November 2026 in Riyadh, will be postponed to Novemb...
18/08/2026
Diversified has announced a new Global Managed Services Practice, consolidating the company's managed services capabilities into one organization. Rob Mello...
18/08/2026
Appear has completed a proof of concept with Thoroughbred Racing Productions (TRP), demonstrating multi-camera remote live production over bonded 5G cellular an...
Audiences Watched Over 103 Billion Minutes of TV on Thanksgiving Day
