In February — typically a slower-moving month for TV consumption — total time watching TV for persons two years of age and up declined 5.1% compared to January, according to Nielsen’s The Gauge measure. Still, while other major categories fell, streaming platforms continued to pace upwards — adding 1.5 percentage points from January to a leading 34.3% share of time spent viewing — another record for the digital video format.
Despite the Super Bowl, Winter Olympics, and the heightened demand for news of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine late in the month, February’s TV viewership trailed January’s per usual, according to Nielsen’s latest update of The Gauge, its monthly look at how consumers are watching content across top TV platforms.
A new monthly Nielsen measurement called The Gauge shows just how much the pandemic has catalyzed streaming among a broad ranger of consumers with May usage across all television homes climbing to 26% of time spent on TV — outpacing broadcast, with an audience share of 25%. The streaming video data included SVOD and AVOD. Streaming and broadcast now account for half of television time. Cable accounted for 39%, and “other” viewing for 9%.
