For years, cord-cutters have argued that the future of television is streaming. A new report from Nielsen confirms that the future is now. The latest edition of The Gauge, a monthly snapshot of how Americans watch TV, reveals that streaming has hit a record high, taking up nearly half of all television viewing time.
In July, streaming accounted for an unprecedented 47.3% of all television viewing. The combined share of traditional linear TV—which includes both broadcast and cable—dropped to a mere 40.6%. What's even more telling is that the 1.3 percentage point gain for streaming perfectly matches the combined loss for broadcast and cable, showing that this isn't just a trend; it's a direct shift in how we watch TV.
The Tale of Two Declines: Cable vs. Broadcast
While linear TV is losing ground, not all of it is shrinking at the same rate. This is one of the most interesting nuances of the report.
Cable TV viewership saw a significant drop from 23.4% in June to 22.2% in July. This steep decline confirms that as more people cancel their subscriptions in favor of streaming, the traditional cable model is collapsing at an accelerated pace.
Broadcast TV, on the other hand, showed a remarkable resilience. While it did drop, the decline was a minuscule 0.1 percentage point, falling from 18.5% to 18.4%. This suggests that while a majority of viewing time is shifting to streaming, the free, over-the-air model is holding on to its core audience more effectively than its paid counterpart.
A Direct Transfer of Viewership
The data reveals that the audience leaving cable is not, for the most part, migrating to broadcast TV. Instead, the viewership is flowing almost entirely to streaming platforms. Services like YouTube, which led all streaming platforms with a 13.4% share, and Netflix, which followed at 8.8%, are driving this shift. Their success is a testament to the power of on-demand content, with popular titles like Squid Game and Love Island USA grabbing billions of minutes of viewing time.
This isn't about people getting rid of their antennas; it's about how they choose to use them. The numbers show that while many homes may still have an antenna as a backup for local news or in case of an internet outage, they are watching less OTA content in favor of the variety and convenience of streaming. The decline in broadcast's share is a measure of reduced usage, not device ownership.
The Road Ahead
For those of us who cut the cord years ago, this report is a clear validation of our choices. It shows that our early adoption of streaming was part of a much larger movement. The rise of free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) services and the inclusion of local channels on live TV streaming platforms like Hulu+Live TV and YouTube TV are only going to accelerate this trend. My Streaming Life is built on the principle of getting the content you want on your terms, and The Gauge proves that this approach is no longer the alternative—it's the new standard for how we watch TV.
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