Television viewing reached a 12-month high in January 2026, rising 3.7 percent compared with December, according to Nielsen’s latest edition of “The Gauge” released on Tuesday.
The month-over-month increase was driven primarily by a 9 percent surge in cable viewing, along with high-profile sports events, returning broadcast dramas and colder winter weather that kept audiences indoors, Nielsen said in a statement.
Cable posted the largest monthly gain among the major distribution categories and accounted for 21.2 percent of total TV usage in January, up 1 share point from December. Cable sports viewing jumped 49 percent month-over-month, led by ESPN’s coverage of the College Football Playoffs, including the quarterfinals, semifinals and championship games. ESPN alone recorded an 82 percent increase in viewing compared with December.
Cable news also benefited from an active news cycle, Nielsen noted. Overall cable news viewing rose 13 percent versus December, with Fox News up 17 percent and CNN up 29 percent.
ESPN and Fox News Channel each represented 2.2 percent of total TV usage in January. Combined, the two networks accounted for 21 percent of all cable viewing during the month.
Broadcast viewing increased 4.2 percent compared with December and captured 21.5 percent of total TV usage. Sports remained the primary driver, with NFL games comprising the top 15 broadcast telecasts in January. The sports genre accounted for 30 percent of broadcast viewing for the month.
Entertainment programming also contributed to the gains. Broadcast dramas rose 24 percent month-over-month, with “High Potential” on ABC ranking as the most-watched drama in January. News programming on broadcast networks climbed 10 percent compared with December, led by “ABC World News Tonight.”
Taken together, traditional TV represented 42.7 percent of all time spent with TV, compared with streaming’s 34.5 percent with YouTube factored out.
With YouTube included, streaming’s share of time spent with TV increased to 47 percent, up 2.7 percent from December.
Netflix posted a 1 percent monthly increase in viewing and accounted for 8.8 percent of total TV usage. “Stranger Things” was the top streaming title for the second consecutive month, generating 15.4 billion viewing minutes in January.
Peacock grew 10 percent month-over-month to reach a 1.8 percent share of TV usage. The increase was driven by the new season of “The Traitors” and simulcasts of NFL games carried on NBC, including the January 18 broadcast of the Divisional Playoff matchup between the Los Angeles Rams and Chicago Bears, which lifted Peacock’s viewing 78 percent above its monthly average that day.
Among free ad-supported streaming services, Tubi rose 6 percent to 2.1 percent of TV usage, while The Roku Channel increased 5 percent to hold a 3.0 percent share for the second consecutive month, its highest platform share to date.
