Streaming has surpassed linear TV for the first time, according to a report from Nielsen.
According to Nielsen’s May numbers from The Gauge, the company’s monthly TV insight report, broadcast and cable viewing combined accounted for 44.2% of all TV watched for the month, while streaming came in at 44.8%.
“It’s fitting that this inflection point coincides with the four year anniversary of Nielsen’s The Gauge, which has become the gold standard for streaming TV measurement,” said Karthik Rao, Nielsen CEO. “It’s also a credit to media companies, who have deftly adapted their programming strategies to meet their viewers where they are watching TV – whether it’s on streaming or linear platforms.”
When The Gauge first launched, it included data from Netflix, YouTube, Hulu, Prime Video and Disney+, and has now expanded to 11 platforms in May 2025. The list now includes free services. PlutoTV, Roku Channel and Tubi combined for 5.7% of total TV viewing in May. YouTube (excluding YouTube TV) has increased over 120% since 2021. YouTube represented 12.5% of all television viewing in May.
Nielsen points out that numbers change month to month and streaming may not permanently have higher numbers than linear TV, but the data is trending in that direction.