Could was a banner month within the historical past of streaming.

In accordance with Nielsen‘s measurement of televisions within the U.S. (cellular gadgets and different nations excluded), broadcast and cable viewing mixed to make up 44.2% of all TV watched whereas streaming surpassed them with 44.8%. Whereas streaming has been the most important supply of TV viewing for a very long time now, that is the primary time it has lapped the full of the opposite key classes. (10.9% of viewing fell into miscellaneous classes.)

The information comes from the Gauge, Nielsen’s month-to-month TV consumption report, which has now been operating for 4 years. From its launch in Could 2021 to this Could, streaming utilization has jumped 71%, with broadcast down 21% and cable down 39%.

Nielsen notes that free companies have contributed considerably to the uptick in streaming since 2021, with YouTube leaping 120% over the 4 years and frequently charting because the most-used streaming platform. In Could, YouTube was the supply of 12.5% of all TV viewership measured by Nielsen, the best share achieved by any streamer so far. Even smaller platforms are having a footprint: Final month, Nielsen recorded that PlutoTV, Roku Channel and Tubi made up 5.7% of viewing in Could, outpacing any particular person broadcaster.

Because the report factors out, it isn’t a coincidence that the streaming milestone comes through the summer season, when soccer is out of season and most broadcast applications are on hiatus. Nonetheless, Nielsen predicts that it gained’t be lengthy earlier than streaming is ready to preserve a profitable streak for good.

Additionally notable from this month’s Gauge was the efficiency of Netflix, which it has famous because the main SVOD service for the reason that report was launched. The O.G. streamer has seen a 27% enhance in viewing between 2021 and now, notably together with the largest streaming day in historical past on Christmas 2024, which it achieved with two NFL video games. With 4 billion minutes watched, the No. 1 streaming program of the month was “You” because of the discharge of its ultimate season — a full circle second for Netflix, which acquired Season 1 of the sequence from Lifetime, noticed sturdy viewership, then picked up the sequence and produced it in-house for the next 4 seasons.