Free streaming services are becoming even more popular as cord cutters look for cheaper options. According to Nielsen’s monthly platform rankings, Tubi, Pluto TV, and The Roku Channel are once again all in the top 10 most popular streaming services in July 2023. This comes as Cabel TV viewing dropped now below 30% of all TV viewing.
“Cable viewing slipped as well, losing a full share point to capture 29.6% of TV in July. Feature film was the only genre to see a rise in viewership (0.5%), despite the fact that usage fell 1.5%. Viewing across virtually all others dropping from June. ESPN’s Home Run Derby and the College World Series took the top 2 slots, followed by When Calls The Heart on The Hallmark Channel. On a year-over-year basis, cable usage was down 12.5%.” Nielsen reports.
According to the report from Nielsen, Tubi had 1.4 percent of all streaming traffic, The Roku Channel had 1.1 percent, and Pluto TV had 0.9 percent of all streaming traffic. Pluto TV was the first free ad-supported streaming service to be ranked in the top 10 by Nielsen. This is a slight increase for some services like The Roku Channel which saw its viewership grow 0.1%.
Here Are The Top 10 Streaming Services:
YouTube: 9.2 percent
Netflix: 8.5 percent
Hulu: 3.6 percent
Prime Video: 3.4 percent
Disney+: 2 percent
Max: 1.4 percent
Tubi: 1.4 percent
Peacock: 1.1 percent
Roku Channel: 1.1 percent
Paramount+: 1 percent
Pluto TV: 0.9 percent
So what is helping TV viewing grow? Sports is in short as sports is once again the main thing people watch live on TV.
“Comparatively, sports on broadcast generated almost 25 billion viewing minutes in July, albeit across a range of channels. Most would consider July a slow month for sports, given that broadcast sports viewing typically more than triples when September starts. While the FIFA Women’s World Cup provided a boost at the end of the month, drama remained the most watched category, capturing 25.7% of viewing. Overall, total broadcast viewing was down 3.6% to finish the month at 20% of TV, representing a new low. On a year-over-year basis, broadcast usage was down 5.4%.” Nielsen said in their report.
Slowly Americans are finding the best new shows are online not on cable TV. With the current writers strike that may never be more true than this fall as many networks look at reruns, reality TV, and airing shows from their streaming services to fill the void.