Key Points:
- YouTube maintained its top spot on the “Media Distributor Gauge” in June.
- Nielsen had the biggest move up the chart, ranking third.
- E. W. Scripps and Weigel were the top pure-play broadcasters.
Netflix emerged as one of the big winners among domestic media distributors in June, according to Nielsen’s latest monthly report.
The premium streaming video platform was the third-biggest media distributor on Nielsen’s “Media Distributor Gauge” report for June, capturing 8.3 percent of all time spent with TV and climbing ahead of NBC Universal and Paramount during the measurement period.
YouTube maintained its top spot on the report, boosted by higher viewership among young children during the summer months, when many are at home from school. As is typical with Nielsen’s reporting, the measurement firm offered no indication of what people watched on YouTube during the June evaluation period. YouTube does not produce its own content; most of the web videos distributed on the platform are made by independent creators.
By comparison, the Walt Disney Company — which earned the second-highest spot on the Media Distributor Gauge report in June — operates a number of different distribution channels, including sports network ESPN, broadcast network ABC, several owned-and-operated local TV channels and streaming platforms Hulu, ESPN Plus and Disney Plus.
Nielsen was a bit more generous with insight into what helped Disney lead its other broadcast and streaming competitors, saying its 10 percent share of time spent with TV was owed in large part to ABC securing 33 of the top telecasts on broadcast TV during June. The NBA Finals and higher interest in national news programming boosted ABC’s presence in living rooms, Nielsen said.
NBC Universal, which ranked just below Netflix, captured 7.8 percent of all time spent with TV across its distribution channels, including its cable networks, NBC broadcast network and streaming platform Peacock. Debut episodes from the newest season of “Love Island USA” helped spur higher interest in Peacock, which held a 1.5 percent share of all time spent with TV during the June evaluation period.
Nielsen offered no insight into what helped spur higher interest in pure-play broadcasters during the month of June. The E. W. Scripps Company was the top pure-play broadcaster, accounting for 2 percent of time spent with TV, likely due to higher interest in WNBA games on its Ion broadcast network, which also simulcast on free streaming platforms.
Weigel Broadcasting came in second place among pure-play broadcasters, accounting for 1.3 percent of time spent with TV in June. Non-public Nielsen data provided by a source to The Desk shows Weigel’s MeTV network typically ranks among the top multicast networks on broadcast TV. MeTV typically competes for the top spot against Scripps-owned Ion.
Among pure-play cable networks, Disney and Hearst Television’s joint venture A+E Global Media topped the list with 1.1 percent of time spent with TV. Hallmark Media came in second place with 1 percent of time spent with TV.
The June measurement period started on May 26 and went through June 29. Nielsen’s measurement periods run on consecutive weeks that begin on Monday and end on Sunday, so the company’s evaluation periods do not always align with a full calendar month.
Nielsen says its streaming data is based on a sampling of streaming meter-enabled TV households, while its data related to broadcast and cable TV networks comes from Nielsen’s overall TV panel. Streaming content viewed through cable and satellite set-top boxes and measurable by Nielsen are counted within the streaming categories.
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