July 2025 marked the sixth month in a row that the Streaming category broke its previous total TV share record. However, with Streaming only accounting for 46.4% in August, that all-time high streak has now come to an end.
Key Takeaways
- Streaming’s growth streak ended in August 2025, dipping slightly to 46.4% of total TV usage, although this was still high compared to past months.
- Broadcast and cable rebounded, with cable rising to 22.5% and broadcast to 19.1%, marking their first increases since April.
- Most paid streaming services saw declines, while free platforms like The Roku Channel and Tubi remained steady, and Prime Video posted a small gain.
In spite of seeing a decline in August, the 46.4% reported by Nielsen is still an increase on the 46% of total TV usage reported for June, which itself was up on the 44.8% reported for May.
Streaming’s 46.4% total TV share for August 2025 was also up considerably on the 41% Streaming posted for August 2024, and up even more on the 38.3% total TV usage Streaming accounted for back in August 2023.
With Streaming seeing a decline for the first time in months, it is not totally surprising that broadcast and cable saw an increase for the first time since April.
After closing July 2025 with 22.2%, Cable saw its total TV share increase to 22.5% in August. Likewise, Broadcast saw its share increase to 19.1%, up from July’s 18.4%.
Most Streaming Services Saw A Decline In August
With the entire Streaming category seeing a decline in August, it is also not surprising that many individual streaming services encountered a decline as well.
Overall, YouTube continued its dominance with a 13.1% share. Although down on the 13.4% reported for July, August’s share was still significantly higher than the 12.8% reported for June.
Netflix also saw a decline, dropping from an all-time high of 8.8% in July to 8.7% in August. In spite of the decline, Netflix had a good month with Wednesday, KPop Demon Hunters, The Hunting Wives, and Sullivan’s Crossing, taking the top four slots in August, and combining for over 22 billion viewing minutes.
Other paid streaming services that saw a decline in August included Disney (Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu) with 4.6% (down from 4.7% in July), Peacock with 1.4% (down from 1.6%), and Warner/Discovery (HBO Max and Discovery+) with 1.4% (down from 1.5%).
In contrast, Prime Video saw its share increase to 3.9% in August (up from 3.8% in July), thanks to The Summer I Turned Pretty, Ballard, and an NFL preseason game.
With a 2% share in August, Paramount Streaming (Paramount+ and Pluto TV) saw no month-over-month change.
No Change For Free Streaming Services
While most of the paid streaming services saw a decline in August, along with the Streaming category in general, free streaming services didn’t. Unfortunately, they didn’t see an increase either.
The Roku Channel saw its share increase to 2.8% in July, up from 2.5% in both May and June, and 2.8% is exactly what the free streaming service’s share totaled in August.
Similar to The Roku Channel, Tubi’s share didn’t move in either direction with 2.2% reported for August.
Unlike The Roku Channel, Tubi’s share hasn’t really changed in recent months, with the same 2.2% not only reported for July, but also June and May as well.
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