Super Bowl Sunday, a perennial titan of television viewership, once again shattered records, with over 110 billion viewing minutes logged across the day. This year’s event, featuring Super Bowl LIX, saw a record-breaking 127.7 million viewers tuning into FOX’s broadcast, including a significant simulcast on Tubi, FOX’s free streaming service. While Tubi experienced a massive surge in viewership from the Super Bowl, it ultimately fell short of dethroning the Roku Channel as the dominant free, ad-supported streaming television platform.
Tubi’s Super Bowl strategy proved remarkably effective, driving a 16-fold increase in its average January audience and capturing a third of all streaming usage during the game. The platform also attracted a younger and slightly more female demographic compared to the overall game viewership. This surge contributed to Tubi’s February usage climbing 17% over January, reaching 2.0% of total TV watch-time, its highest share since July 2024.
However, despite Tubi’s impressive performance, the Roku Channel maintained its leading position within the free space. Nielsen’s “The Gauge” report shows overall monthly data shows fee streaming continuing to gain share, and Roku is for the second month in a row the second largest streaming player.
In total The Roku Channel accounted for 2.1% of all TV viewing in February, followed by Tubi at 2%. This comes as Pluto TV also saw viewership grow now accounting for 1% of all streaming in the United States.
Streaming continues to grow in the United States, reaching a record 43.5% of total TV viewing in February, a 0.9 share point increase from January.
YouTube also experienced a record-breaking month, capturing 11.6% of total TV viewing, with nearly 27% of all streaming time dedicated to the platform. Netflix followed closely, maintaining its position as the second-largest streaming service with 8.2% share, driven by the popularity of “The Night Agent.”
Traditional broadcast and cable television experienced significant declines in February, particularly in sports viewership, which plummeted 54% on broadcast and 42% on cable compared to January. Total broadcast viewership fell by 10% to 21.2%, while cable declined by 9% to 23.2%.
Despite these declines, the Super Bowl and other high-profile events like the NHL 4 Nations Face-Off and the Grammys still drew substantial audiences, demonstrating the continued power of live events. Cable news also saw a resurgence, with FOX News Channel dominating the top cable telecasts.
The February data reveals a clear shift in viewing habits, with streaming continuing to gain ground at the expense of traditional television. While Tubi’s Super Bowl success showcased the platform’s potential, the Roku Channel remains the frontrunner in the highly competitive freemarket. The battle for streaming dominance is far from over, and future events will likely continue to reshape the television landscape.
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