The 2024 Summer Olympic Games from Paris helped propel Comcast’s NBC Universal to the top of Nielsen’s media distributor gauge for August, the measurement firm said this week.
On Tuesday, Nielsen released its newest media distribution report, which evaluates the total share of television time based on a media brand’s collective broadcast, cable and digital properties.
NBC Universal operates the flagship NBC broadcast channel; cable networks like CNBC, E!, USA Network and Golf Channel; and the direct-to-consumer streaming service Peacock — all of which carried events from the Summer Olympic Games between late July and mid-August.
That coverage helped make NBC Universal the top media brand for August, Nielsen said, with the Comcast-owned broadcaster earning a 13.4 percent share of total TV consumption.
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YouTube moved into second place on Nielsen’s chart with a 10.6 percent share of total TV time, while the Walt Disney Company fell to third with a 9.5 percent share.
“Few measurement intervals are likely to rival the impact the Paris Olympics had on TV consumption throughout July and August,” a Nielsen analyst wrote in the report on Tuesday. “While the Games are undoubtedly unique from a cultural and TV programming perspective, [NBC Universal] established a successful blueprint for reaching consumers on their viewing platform of choice, which could prove to be an important milestone into the future.”
Among independent over-the-air broadcasters, the E. W. Scripps Company was the most-consumed media brand on television in August, with 2.1 percent of all time spent on TV in America, Nielsen said. The measurement firm did not specifically address why Scripps topped out its peers, but the broadcaster did air a number of highly-rated Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) games in August. Other Scripps networks include Court TV, Scripps News, Laff, Bounce TV and Grit.
Weigel Broadcasting was the second highest-ranked over-the-air broadcaster in August with a 1.3 percent share of total TV time, according to Nielsen. Weigel operates a number of digital multicast networks, including MeTV, MeTV Toons, Story Television, Heroes & Icons and Start TV.
The report evaluates TV viewership across a consecutive four-week period, starting Monday, July 29. Nielsen says its measurement week runs from Mondays to the following Sunday.
