The start of the National Football League’s (NFL) season in September barely moved the need in terms of share of attention for broadcast and streaming services in September, according to the latest report from Nielsen.
On Tuesday, the measurement firm released its latest “The Gauge” report, which tracks share of viewership across broadcast, cable, streaming video platforms and the mysterious “other” category that the company has never fully explained.
Broadcast television experienced a 0.6 percent lift in viewership last month, bringing its total share of attention to 22.6 percent, according to Nielsen. That remains largely unchanged from the 22 percent that Nielsen reported for broadcast television consumption in August, which was fueled by the 2024 Summer Olympic Games and Summer Paralympic Games on NBC.
The start of the NFL season may have continued that momentum, which seemed to benefit Amazon more than anyone. Per Nielsen’s report, Amazon’s Prime video saw a 12 percent increase in consumption on a year-over basis as “Thursday Night Football” kicked off on the platform. In total, Prime Video accounted for 3.6 percent of all streaming consumption in September, Nielsen said, an increase of a half-percentage point compared to August.
Related: Olympics boost time spent with broadcast TV in August, Nielsen report shows
As a whole, streaming platforms captured 41 percent of all time spent on TV during September — the same amount of attention streaming captured in August. YouTube and Netflix continued to be the dominant platforms in September, Nielsen said, though their share of streaming consumption was unchanged compared to August.
Despite Comcast-owned Peacock hosting an exclusive Week 1 NFL game played in Brazil, the platform’s streaming share dipped to 1.4 percent in September, compared to its 2.1 percent share in August. Nielsen said the Brazil football game “garnered 2.6 billion viewing minutes” and was the “11th most-streamed program in September” among all services.
The NFL appeared to bolster traditional television more than streaming, with NFL games accounting for 14 of the top 15 broadcasts in September, Nielsen said. Cable’s share of viewership dipped slightly to 26.1 percent during September, the Nielsen report showed, down 0.2 percentage points compared to August. Nielsen suggested it was a return to the new normal, as key events like the Olympic Games and certain political events that drove viewership to some cable news and sports networks ended last month.
Taken as a whole, traditional TV platforms — broadcast and cable — accounted for 48.7 percent of all time spent with TV in September, up from the 48.3 percent logged in August and fueled by gains on the broadcast TV side.
