Disney Captures 11.9% of TV in January, Boosted by ESPN's ( 82%) College Football Playoff Coverage, Plus Upticks on ABC Affiliates ( 10%)
YouTube Leads with 12.5% of TV, Netflix Maintains No. 3 Rank with 8.8%
NEW YORK - February 24, 2026 - In a month where television viewing reached a 12-month high, Disney captured the largest month-over-month gain in Nielsen's January 2026 Media Distributor Gauge report, a monthly view of total TV consumption aggregated by parent company. Disney added 1.2 share points and finished with 11.9% of total television viewing in January, nearly tying its Media Distributor Gauge best (12.0% in January 2025), and bringing it within 0.6 share points of YouTube's 12.5% lead.
Disney's momentum was primarily fueled by ESPN's coverage of the College Football Playoffs and Championship games, which drove an 82% monthly viewing increase on the network and contributed nearly a full share point to Disney's total. Disney also got a boost from its ABC affiliates, with viewing up 10% among them on the strength of multiple NFL games, the Citrus Bowl, the return of broadcast dramas, and seasonal staples like New Year's Rockin' Eve and The Rose Bowl Parade. ABC's High Potential and ABC World News Tonight were notably the top broadcast programs in each of their respective genres in January.
Netflix represented 8.8% of TV usage in January and maintained the No. 3 rank among distributors. Netflix's overall usage was up slightly in January ( 1%), and its original series Stranger Things claimed the top streaming program for a second consecutive month.
NFL games carried on NBC, plus simulcasts on Peacock, were a key factor in the 5% overall increase to NBCU-Versant* this month. Peacock also benefited from a new season of its original series The Traitors. Additionally, Telemundo affiliates saw a 13% jump in viewership powered by the sports reality hit Exatl n, bringing the network's monthly share contribution to 0.7 points. Overall, NBCU-Versant represented 8.5% of TV viewership in January ( 0.3 points vs. December).
FOX climbed to 7.4% of TV viewership in January ( 0.4 points). This growth was largely underpinned by a 17% jump in viewing on FOX News Channel, which accounted for more than half ( 0.25 points) of FOX's monthly share increase.
Led by increases on FYI ( 46%) and Lifetime ( 14%), A&E's combined viewership climbed 8% in January ( 0.1 point) and moved up one slot in the distributor rankings.
* Note: While Versant formally completed its spin-off of NBCUniversal cable networks in early January, advertising sales for both entities have been retained by NBCU. For this reason, and to preserve data trends and insights in these reports, NBCU and Versant will be reported together in the Media Distributor Gauge. However, to further acknowledge the change, the companies' respective shares will be included in the Media Distributor Gauge chart.
The January 2026 interval spanned four weeks, from 12/29/2025 through 01/25/2026. Nielsen reporting follows the broadcast calendar, with weekly intervals beginning on Monday.
January '26December '25November '25October '25September 25August 25July 25June 25May '25April '25March '25February 25January '25December '24
January '26December '25November '25October '25September 25August 25July 25June 25May 25April 25March 25February 25January '25December '24
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
More from Nielsen
24/02/2026
Disney Captures 11.9% of TV in January, Boosted by ESPN's ( 82%) College Foo...
20/02/2026
NEW YORK - February 10, 2026 - An estimated 125.6* million viewers watched Super Bowl LX on Sunday, February 8, according to Nielsen's Big Data Panel meas...
20/02/2026
NEW YORK - February 19, 2026 - Nielsen today shared updated and final Super Bowl...
19/02/2026
WBD edges above Polsat in only change in the top 10 content distributor rankings...
19/02/2026
Airlines and cruise operators ramp up spend as New Zealanders plan, compare and book online
Auckland, February 19, 2026 - New Nielsen Ad Intel data shows adver...
19/02/2026
The beginning of the new year brought a clear revival in front of television screens. The winter aura meant that Poles spent an average of 5% more time watching...
19/02/2026
New data also shows news content on FAST channels up 58% as streaming catalogs c...
17/02/2026
Cable Surges 9% on Strength of College Football Playoffs and News, while NFL Delivers Top 15 Broadcast Telecasts
ESPN (+82%) and FOX News Channel (+17%) Combin...
11/02/2026
NEW YORK - February 10, 2026 - An estimated 124.9 million viewers watched Super Bowl LX on Sunday, February 8, according to Nielsen's Big Data Panel measu...
10/02/2026
NEW YORK February 10, 2026 Nielsen's Gracenote, the global leader in entertainment metadata, today announced the continuation of its partnership with Go...
09/02/2026
Harvey Norman tops Australia's biggest ad spenders as finance and travel surge
Sydney February 9, 2026 - Nielsen's Biggest Ad Spenders of 2025 Report...
06/02/2026
Despite most never having strapped on skis or skates, Aussies are keen for some ...
05/02/2026
During this period, streaming comprised the majority of ad supported TV (45.6%),...
04/02/2026
Pilot To Launch with Super Bowl LX on February 8 and Continue with High Profile Live Events, Entertainment and Sports
Nielsen to Use State of the Art Wearable...
29/01/2026
Bluey' Wins Second Consecutive Top Streaming Title of the Year with 45 Billi...
28/01/2026
Airlines, cruise and tour operators double down on ad spend as Australians' prioritise travel
Sydney January 28, 2026 - New Nielsen Ad Intel data shows a...
27/01/2026
Nielsen will continue to drive growth and provide local audience measurement
in...
23/01/2026
Multi-year deal utilizes Nielsen's full suite of local audience marketing in...
23/01/2026
New York, NY January 21, 2026 - Neptune BidCo US Inc. (the Issuer or the Co...
22/01/2026
Strategic hire marks latest milestone in Gracenote's continued expansion into CTV advertising & monetization
New York - January 21, 2026 - Nielsen's Gr...
21/01/2026
The Living Room Remains Central: Nielsen Highlights Growing TV Screen Dominance ...
20/01/2026
December, the first month of winter and the holiday season, has traditionally encouraged families to spend time together in front of the television. During this...
20/01/2026
During December, streaming's share of TV viewing in Mexico settled at 24.3%, an increase of 0.1 share points from the previous month.
Disclaimer: YUMI TV,...
20/01/2026
Christmas Day is Most-Streamed Day Ever with 55 Billion Viewing Minutes, led by...
19/01/2026
The Majority of Those Surveyed Prefer to Buy Brands Who Advertise in Content Tha...
13/01/2026
Singapore - January 13, 2026 - Nielsen today announced the appointment of Matty Lin to its Commercial Organization as APAC regional sales leader.
Based in Sing...
06/01/2026
First-of-its-kind SSP capability delivers program-level insight and brand suitab...
22/12/2025
Paramount Scores Largest Share Increase Among Distributors as Paramount and CBS...
22/12/2025
New multi-year deal integrates Roku's data to fuel Nielsen's measurement suite
Roku gains access to Nielsen's streaming ratings, showing The Roku C...
19/12/2025
Partnership brings Nielsen ONE measurement activation directly into XR's adv...
18/12/2025
During November, streaming's share of TV viewing in Mexico settled at 24.2%, an increase of 0.5 share points from the previous month.
Disclaimer: YUMI TV,...
18/12/2025
November continued the upward trend in television viewership. The significantly colder weather and a rich programming lineup encouraged viewers to spend more ti...
18/12/2025
As viewers turn to sports highlights, recaps and documentary programming, expand...
17/12/2025
Audiences Watched Over 103 Billion Minutes of TV on Thanksgiving Day
NFL Games ...
13/12/2025
Powering Client Growth: Horizon Deepens Nielsen Partnership, Enabling More Effic...
11/12/2025
A Majority of the World's Population (51%) Identify As Soccer Fans
The 2025 MLB postseason notched 58.2 billion viewing minutes, up +24% from the prior y...
10/12/2025
During this interval, streaming comprised the majority of ad supported TV (46.4%...
08/12/2025
Nielsen's robust data offering enables marketers to connect with their target audience more effectively and drive better results throughout Amazon's adv...
04/12/2025
Gracenote Content Connect enables media ecosystem to precisely align ad campaigns and programming based on rich content signals
NEW YORK - December 4, 2025 - N...
02/12/2025
NGID volunteers in the United States
NGID volunteers in Mexico
NGID volunteers in India
NGID volunteers in Spain
NGID volunteers in Australia
NGID voluntee...
26/11/2025
Mumbai, November 24, 2025: In a first-of-its-kind initiative, JioStar, in collab...
25/11/2025
Nielsen will now measure both Lionsgate's FAST channel MovieSphere and Movie...
24/11/2025
Mumbai - November 24, 2025 - In a first-of-its-kind initiative, JioStar, in coll...
24/11/2025
Disney Achieves Largest Monthly Share Increase, Followed by FOX and Paramount, w...
19/11/2025
October brings a larger audience in front of TV screens. The cooler autumn weather and the continuation of new programming schedules brought increases in both t...
18/11/2025
During October, streaming's share of TV viewing in Mexico settled at 23.7%, a marginal shift of -0.8 share points from the previous month.
Disclaimer: YUMI...
18/11/2025
Broadcast Builds On Lead Over Cable, Driven by Football and Drama Programming Ga...
11/11/2025
Rural connectivity rising fast
Traditional media still matters
Rural Filipinos...
06/11/2025
With nearly 50% of streamers willing to cancel a service based on difficulty fin...
Disney Captures 11.9% of TV in January, Boosted by ESPN's ( 82%) College Football Playoff Coverage, Plus Upticks on ABC Affiliates ( 10%)
