Google-owned video platform YouTube continued as the most-dominant media company in Nielsen’s monthly Media Distributor Gauge in April, the measurement firm revealed on Tuesday.
April was the first month that the companies listed in the Media Distributor Gauge did not change positions on a sequential basis, a Nielsen analyst confirmed. YouTube maintained its top position for the third straight month, growing from an 11.6 percent share of time spent with TV in February to a 12.4 percent share last month.
The Walt Disney Company — which had been first in the report until YouTube toppled it two months ago — ranked second for the third consecutive month, with its streaming platforms and linear TV networks accounting for 10.7 percent of all time spent with TV in April, up 0.2 percent on a sequential basis.
Paramount comprised 8.9 percent of time spent with TV as the company’s CBS Sports brand was boosted by the conclusion of the NCAA March Madness tournament and the start of professional golf season. Viewership gains to local CBS broadcast stations and affiliates drove more than half of Paramount’s monthly growth, Nielsen said.
Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) was another standout in the report, capturing seventh place overall with a 6.7 percent share of time spent with TV, but experiencing a 58 percent lift in viewership to TNT Sports linear networks (TNT, TBS and Tru TV) driven by higher interest in the NBA Playoffs, Nielsen said. WBD’s linear network HBO and streaming service Max were also boosted by the conclusion of “The White Lotus,” which was the top title on Nielsen’s Streaming Top 10 chart last month. (WBD is renaming Max to HBO Max this summer.)
Among pure streamers, Netflix ranked second in the category and fifth overall with a 7.5 percent share of time spent with TV, while Amazon was eighth overall with a 3.5 percent share. Across pure-play linear broadcasters, the E. W. Scripps Company ranked first with 2.1 percent of time spent with TV, while Weigel came in second at 1.3 percent and A+E Global Media clocked in third at 1.1 percent. Scripps typically benefits from the popularity of Ion TV on free streaming platforms like Samsung TV Plus and The Roku Channel, while Weigel has some of the top multicast networks in the industry.
