Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) experienced the largest monthly increase in time spent with television last month, thanks in part to the broadcaster’s shared rights of NCAA March Madness tournament games on TNT Sports and Max, Nielsen said this week.
The entertainment giant ranked seventh across all media companies on the monthly report, which evaluates the overall consumption of a company’s broadcast, cable and streaming products.
WBD captured 6.7 percent of all time spent with TV, according to Nielsen; by comparison, Paramount, whose CBS Sports shares NCAA March Madness rights with WBD, ranked third on the list with 8.5 percent of time spent with TV.
WBD’s month-over growth was also attributed to higher interest in season 3 of the hit drama “The White Lotus” — which is available on HBO and Max — and Max’s original series “The Pitt,” a medical drama set in Pittsburgh.
YouTube maintained its top spot on the report, capturing a solid 12 percent of time spent with TV — the same amount that Nielsen listed on its monthly “The Gauge” report, which breaks down TV viewership share by platform instead of by company.
The Walt Disney Company — which, until recently, had been in the top spot on the Media Distributor Gauge — ranked second with 10.5 percent of time spent with TV. Nielsen said Disney benefitted from hosting the Oscar Awards in March, which aired on ABC and streamed on Hulu. Other ABC programs, including “World News Tonight” and “American Idol” attracted a sizable audience to the broadcast network, with replays available on Hulu.
Among pure streaming players, Netflix ranked second in the category (behind YouTube) and fifth overall with 7.9 percent of time spent with TV — just 0.1 percent behind NBC Universal — while Amazon and Prime Video had a 3.5 percent share.
Among broadcast operations, the E. W. Scripps Company — which operates broadcast networks and streaming channels, but not a streaming platform — was first in the category and 10th overall, accounting for 2.1 percent of time spent with TV. Weigel Broadcasting ranked second in the category and 11th overall at 1.3 percent.
Fox, which operates a broadcast network, cable news and sports channels and the free streaming platform Tubi, accounted for a solid 7 percent of time spent with TV, with the company ranking sixth overall — ahead of Amazon but just behind Netflix. Tubi consistently ranks as one of the top free streaming platforms on the monthly “The Gauge” report.
The report period accounts for time spent with TV between the dates of February 24 and March 30, 2025. Nielsen says its streaming data comes from streaming meter-enabled TV households within its national TV panel, while broadcast and cable audience data comes from Nielsen’s overall TV panel.
Year-over figures for companies listed on the Media Distributor Gauge are not publicly available. A public version of the report was introduced by Nielsen last May.
