Cable TV is continuing to lose viewership in 2024 as many Americans switch over to streaming and other methods to watch TV.
According to a new report from Nielsen, cable TV now accounts for just 26.7% of all TV viewership and streaming accounts for 41.4%. Broadcast TV is holding strong with 20.3% of viewership and 11.6% comes from other methods of viewing as of July 2024.
Overall, in July 2024 the total viewership was up 2.3% in July versus May and compared to one year ago it was up 3.5% as Neilson points to the Summer Olympics in Paris as one of the main reasons for the jump in viewership. This comes as increasingly sports is one of the few things Americans are watching live on TV helping to drive up ad revenue on sporting events.
Increasingly cable TV subscribers are streaming TV. In our polls, the second most popular reason to cancel cable TV—after saving money—is the decreasing use of internet. Now they are streaming content, which makes you wonder why are they paying for cable TV if they don’t use it?
No matter how you look at it, increasingly cable TV is losing viewership even among those who are still subscribed to cable.