Nielsen reporting follows the broadcast calendar with measurement weeks that run Monday through Sunday.
6 minute read January 2025
Pure-play streaming companies account for over a quarter of total TV in December.
YouTube, Netflix and Amazon each achieve company-best shares of TV.
The December 2024 interval dates included 11/25/2024 through 12/29/2024. Nielsen reporting follows the broadcast calendar with measurement weeks that run Monday through Sunday.
NEW YORK – January 28, 2025 – Nielsen’s December 2024 Media Distributor Gauge results were driven by a dynamic month for TV that included the seasonal uptick in demand for holiday movies, a large appetite for football with more games moving exclusively to streaming, and a post-election downturn in news viewing. These trends fueled five changes in the monthly rankings, with one distributor climbing two spots.
Disney claimed the largest share of TV viewing for a fourth straight month, ranking as the most-watched media distributor with 11.2% of total usage in December. Disney’s 6% month-over-month gain was fueled by strong performances across its cable networks. Notable contributors included FX with a 45% surge, and Freeform, which nearly doubled its audience with its popular holiday movie marathons. Disney also benefited from football-driven gains on ESPN, as well as from Bluey on Disney+, which was the second-most watched streaming title of the month with 5.3 billion total viewing minutes during the December interval.
As mentioned in the , time spent watching YouTube on TV was up 7% in December, leading the streaming service to its best monthly share of total TV to date with 11.1% of time spent. This is YouTube’s 10th consecutive month ranking as one of the top two media distributors.
Netflix exhibited a 14% monthly uptick in viewing versus November, leading it to notch 8.5% of total TV watch-time and tie its previous platform high. Netflix’s gains were driven by the two Christmas Day NFL games, in addition to the nearly 15 billion viewing minutes accumulated by popular titles like Carry-On , Squid Game and Virgin River .
While FOX delivered the most-watched program across the month—the Thanksgiving Day NFL game between the Cowboys and the Giants, which drew 38.5 million viewers and 8.2 billion viewing minutes—it was hard to match the company-best record it set in November thanks to boosts from the World Series and presidential election coverage. The result of the absence was a 14% drop in viewership to finish December with 7.1% of TV.
Amazon reached a platform best 4.0% share of TV, as it benefited from hosting five NFL Thursday Night Football games, including one on Black Friday, during the December interval, as well as from its holiday blockbuster film Red One, which racked up 5.6 billion viewing minutes as the month’s top streaming title.
The Roku Channel experienced a 10% increase, lifting it to a platform record of 2.0% of total TV time and climbing from tenth to ninth place among media companies. Meanwhile, AMC was up 24% in December on the strength of its month-long Christmas movie marathons.
About The Gauge™
The Gauge™ is Nielsen’s monthly snapshot of total broadcast, cable and streaming consumption that occurs through a television screen, providing the industry with a holistic look at what audiences are watching. The Gauge was expanded in April 2024 to include The Media Distributor Gauge , which reflects total viewing by media distributor across these categories. Read more about The Gauge methodology and FAQs .
About Nielsen
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