August YouTube Viewing Tied Netflix Share for First Time: Nielsen

Streaming usage was 35% of overall TV consumption in August, its second straight month as the top TV viewing category, reported Nielsen Thursday. Broadcast and cable each gained in August as well, with shares at 22.1% and 34.5%, respectively, it said. Though total time spent watching TV in August was down slightly from July, broadcast, cable and streaming each had increases in share compared with the previous month, it said. HBO Max had a 13.7% increase in August viewing volume compared with July and a record-high 1.2% share of TV consumption, aided by the release of HBO's House of the Dragon, said Nielsen. Viewing of Netflix's Stranger Things steadily declined in August, leading to a 6.5% drop in usage and loss of 0.5 share points, bringing the streaming platform to 7.6% share of TV, it said. Time spent watching YouTube increased 2.8% in August and gained 0.3 share points, tying Netflix's share for the first time at 7.6% of total TV.