Viewing of ad-supported content reached 73.6% of total viewing in Q2 2025, according to the latest data from Nielsen. The figure not only highlights the dominance of ad-supported content right now, but also the fact that the share of ad-supported content continues to grow.
This data is part of Nielsen’s quarterly Ad Supported Gauge report, a new extension of the company’s The Gauge report. The first installment of the Ad Supported Gauge was published in May and indicated that 72.4% of overall TV viewing during the first quarter of 2025 was ad-supported content.
With that number having now increased to 73.6% during the second quarter of the year, the ad-supported category has seen a 1.2% increase quarter over quarter.
Naturally, this also means that the percentage of non-ad supported content dropped from 27.6% in the first quarter to 26.4% in the second quarter of the year.
Unsurprisingly, a good portion of this ad-supported viewing was streamed. And, similar to ad-supported content in general, the Streaming category saw its share of ad-supported viewership increase as well.
After finishing the first quarter of 2025 with a 42.4% share of the ad-supported TV market, Streaming accounted for a 45.3% in the second quarter, an increase of 2.9% overall.
In contrast, Cable’s ad-supported TV viewership decreased from 28.9% in Q1 to 28.7% in Q2 and Broadcast’s share dropped from 28.7% in the first quarter to 26% in the second quarter.
In spite of the ad-supported and Streaming gains, Nielsen notes that overall viewing in Q2 was down by 9% compared to Q1, and viewing of ad-supported content was down by 8%. These declines were primarily the result of drops in broadcast and cable viewership.
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