The strength of the news cycle helped cable remain largely stable from a usage perspective, as cable viewing was down just 0.6% from March. In fact, news was the only cable genre that didn’t experience a dip in usage. News viewing was up 4.3%, accounting for 19% of cable usage in April. Former President Trump’s court appearance in New York on April 4 fueled daily usage spikes of 93%, 44% and 39% on CNN, FOX News and MSNBC, respectively. On a year-over-year perspective, cable content viewership was down 12% (5.3 share points). 

Broadcast usage dipped 2.7% in April, losing 0.2 share points to account for 23.1% of total TV use. The NCAA basketball tournament and The Masters golf tournament were the most-viewed broadcast programs, but sports viewing did slide 17.1% in aggregate to account for just 9.6% of the category. Dramas attracted a 2.1% viewing increase, driven by titles like NCIS, Blue Bloods and Chicago Fire. On a year-over-year perspective, broadcast viewing was down 3.7% (1.6 share points). 

In the streaming space, competition is causing shifts in usage shares, while seasonality contributed to a 2.1% dip in viewing across the category. Netflix viewing, for example, dropped 7%, translating to a loss of 0.4 share point, despite having the top two programs from a viewing perspective: The Night Agent and Love is Blind. Comparatively, usage increased across the two newest free, ad-supported options in The Gauge: Tubi TV usage grew 6% and Pluto TV usage increased 3.9%. Other highlights:

• While Disney+ viewership was down 1.7%, The Mandalorian was the third-most streamed title in April.
• YouTube, excluding YouTube TV, remained the most-used platform, with usage increasing 1.5% to help the platform capture 8.1% of TV usage. 
• Viewership to “other streaming” resulted in an increase of 0.1 share points in April, with multiple platforms inching toward the 1% threshold to be reported individually.

April data trends with Brian Fuhrer

Methodology and frequently asked questions

The Gauge provides a monthly macroanalysis of audience viewing behaviors across key television delivery platforms, including broadcast, streaming, cable and other sources. It also includes a breakdown of the major, individual streaming distributors. The chart itself represents monthly total television usage, broken out into share of viewing by category and by individual streaming distributors.

The post An active news cycle provides a back-to-back TV share increase for cable in April appeared first on Nielsen.

Despite global marketers’ plan to increase their CTV spending by an average of 40% this year, their perceptions about the effectiveness of these investments is low. In fact, only 49% of global marketers believe their CTV spending is either extremely or very effective. In Asia-Pacific, perceived effectiveness is just 41%.

Compared with something straightforward, such as fixing a flat tire, measuring CTV and streaming engagement presents an array of challenges, ranging from access to quality data to perceived overlaps with traditional TV to internal knowledge gaps. CTV and streaming also represent a relatively new channel for marketers, which amplifies the difficulty associated with understanding consumer journeys across all channels (i.e., assessing full-funnel media ROI).

“Only 53% of global marketers, on average, are confident in their ability to measure complete consumer journeys”

The benefits of quality audience data

Quality audience data—deduplicated across channels—is critical in any marketer’s quest to track consumer engagement with media. This is a notable challenge for global marketers, as, on average, only 23% say they definitely have access to the quality data they need to get the most out of their media budgets. Comparatively, a much larger portion are only “somewhat” confident in their access to quality audience data. Without quality audience data, marketers will be ill equipped to measure the engagement of their desired audiences.

Access to quality data could address two other challenges that marketers face amid the rise of streaming: overlaps with traditional TV and organizational knowledge gaps. Nearly 40% of global marketers say internal knowledge gaps and understanding audiences between streaming and traditional TV represent areas of difficulty when it comes to advertising across CTV.

The importance of marketing technology 

Marketing technology (martech) represents the other critical piece of the cross-media measurement puzzle. This isn’t news to marketers, but using channel-specific tools to measure channel-specific engagement can make it difficult to understand complete consumer journeys. On average, 62% of marketers globally use multiple measurement solutions to arrive at cross-media measurement, with 14% leveraging four to five.

Utilization of existing martech could also be a hindrance to measurement confidence, as Gartner’s 2022 Marketing Technology Survey Insights found that only 42% of survey respondents said they use the full breadth of their martech capabilities, down from 58% in 2020. Investment in martech is another factor, as 24% of marketers, on average, plan to reduce their investment in martech to some degree, with 12% planning cuts of 150% or more.

Embracing a comparable measurement mindset

Globally, 71% of marketers say that comparability in cross-media measurement is important, yet cross-media ROI measurement remains elusive for many, with streaming and CTV measurement presenting notable challenges. 

To obtain their long-term measurement—and business—objectives, marketers should consider tools, solutions and metrics that are media-agnostic. With the right tools—those that help marketers arrive at a single view of audience engagement—infused with quality audience data, confidence in measurement will rise, and marketers will be better positioned to understand individual media engagement as the landscape evolves.

For additional insight, download the 2023 Nielsen Annual Marketing Report.

Note

¹ Connected TV (CTV) refers to any television that is connected to the internet. The most common use case is to stream video content.

The post Getting ahead of the audience measurement curve in a streaming first landscape appeared first on Nielsen.

As anyone who has ever looked for a health care provider or an institution that offers higher education knows, there’s a certain level of unspoken trust associated with organizations that have been accredited.

Simply knowing, for example, that a medical practice or a university has been recognized for adhering to a set of industry-specific standards regarding quality goes a long way in providing an assurance of credibility and value.

The same is true in TV measurement. Advertisers, agencies and publishers depend on it, as it underpins the decisions involving more than $77 billion in TV ad spending¹. At its core, accreditation represents unity and trust in agreed-upon standards throughout the industry. Those standards benefit everyone and bring us together.

By now, you’ve heard the news that the MRC has re-accredited Nielsen for national TV measurement. We truly value this recognition, but it’s critical to highlight the immense amount of work that went into regaining it—work that has restored the industry’s confidence in the measurement data that serves as the primary ad currency in the U.S.

Why do we do this? Trust.

When you consider that people spend more than nine-and-a-half hours each day² with media, it makes sense that content offerings are growing increasingly rich and diverse—and that will continue. TV audiences, for example, now have nearly 1 million unique titles³ to choose from across linear and streaming channels—up from just over 646k titles at the end of 2019. With that much choice available, it makes equally as much sense that new measurement solutions are coming to market to help brands and publishers understand audience engagement.

Yet while audiences revel in the growing wealth of content they have access to, media buyers and sellers have a range of new data options to choose from as they weigh their business decisions. Regardless of whether you’re buying or selling media, the growing number of measurement options leaves many parties wondering which ones they should transact with.

When measurement is audited and accredited by an independent, unbiased third party, those questions never arise. Accreditation also alleviates the need to vet the various options, which can be time consuming and cumbersome. Agreed-upon standards are foundational in bringing the industry together around common interests and objectives. It also narrows the field of what is and what isn’t a measurement currency. That benefits everyone.

The criticality of accreditation is underscored by the high standards associated with gaining—and maintaining—it. Established in 1963 at the request of U.S. Congress, the Media Rating Council (MRC) oversees the accreditation of media measurement products and data sources in the U.S. In this capacity, the MRC requires accredited services to be renewed annually to provide the industry with ongoing confidence in the data that underpins billions of dollars in advertising transactions every year.

Everyone wants data they can be confident in—regardless of industry. Data is becoming the lifeblood of businesses around the globe. By 2025, experts forecast that the world will be rife with about 175 zettabytes of data. For context, it would take you 1.8 billion years to download that much data with an average internet connection. 

Now, imagine a world without accreditation to help businesses and organizations make sense of that data or govern how it gets used, especially with privacy now a priority. Innovation happens when we work together, and this moment is a reminder of our decades-long support of this industry, as well as our commitment for decades to come.

This article originally appeared on MediaPost.

Notes

1. Nielsen Ad Intel; figure represents total ad spending in 2022 across U.S. cable, network, Spanish language cable, Spanish language network, spot TV and syndicated TV.
2. Nielsen NPOWER, Nielsen RADAR, Nielsen Total Media Fusion, Q4 2022
3. Gracenote Global Video Data, January 2023

The post The media industry has trust issues. It’s time to solve them appeared first on Nielsen.

Grey’s Anatomy, the sixth most-watched program among all adults in 2022, was the favorite among 18 to 34-year-old women, followed by Gilmore Girls; both of which have origins that date back to the early 2000s.

While 18-to-34 year old women certainly watched newer shows as well in 2022 – from Stranger Things to Encanto to Bridgerton – the popularity of shows that debuted – in some cases more than 20 years ago – is unexpected, especially at a time when there is more content available to consumers now than ever before. As of January 2023, TV audiences have more than 926,000 titles to choose from across linear and streaming channels, with more than 821,000 available on streaming platforms, according to Gracenote Global Video Data.

Grey’s Anatomy debuted in 2005 and is still airing new episodes on ABC today. Gilmore Girls debuted in 2000 and ended in 2007 (there was a Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life revival mini series in 2016). 

These particular shows are not an anomaly. The Simpsons, Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother and Seinfeld were also among the top 25 most-streamed shows last year among this age group. In total, women 18-34 watched almost 105 billion minutes of the 25 most-streamed programs in 2022, and 14 of those shows began their production runs well before more current hits like Ted Lasso, Yellowstone and Ozark. Comparatively, men 18-34 watched just over 67 billion minutes of the 25 most-streamed programs last year.

Engagement with acquired content has continued into 2023, as the weekly minutes viewed of titles like NCIS, Grey’s Anatomy and NCIS on streaming platforms often outpace original streaming shows, according to Nielsen’s weekly top 10 listings.

Library content—content that streaming platforms license after it airs somewhere else—can be a streaming platform’s secret weapon, simply because of built-in awareness and existing fanbases. In the sitcom space, for example, Seinfeld is widely regarded as one of the most influential shows of all time. And given that its popularity peaked in the 1990s, many might assume that, on streaming platforms, it would primarily attract audiences who watched it on broadcast channels when it originally aired.

Interestingly, that’s not the case. In looking at viewership from last year, we see that just over 2% of all women 18-34 who watched Seinfeld watched the comedy series with someone 35 or older. Comparatively, more than 10% of the women 18-34 who watched Bones on Netflix, which originally aired 2005-2017, watched with someone 35 or older. Grey’s Anatomy, which debuted in 2005 and is still in production today, is watched more among groups of women 18-34 than with groups including women 35 and older (7% vs. 2.3%). The same is true of The Simpsons, the longest running animated show in TV history (10.6% vs. 2.4%).

In total, 18 of the 25 most streamed programs last year among women 18-34 were programs that streamers licensed from other companies. And this audience streamed just under 77 billion minutes of these shows. Comparatively, 20 of the 25 most streamed programs last year among men 18-34 was library content, but they watched notably less than women: just over 51 billion minutes.

Call it comfort TV

Many television themes today are dark (such as the apocalypse story The Last of Us, the drug addiction tale Euphoria and the workplace thriller Severance). Younger women aren’t shying away from these themes (they watched 7.8 million minutes of Stranger Things, 5.2 million minutes of Criminal Minds and 2.8 million minutes of Dahmer last year).

In contrast, men watched just 3 million minutes of Gilmore Girls in 2022 (up 132.6 % from 2021) and 2.1 million minutes of SpongeBob SquarePants (up 71.7% from 2021).

Driving factors

The growth of streaming – now the predominant way audiences consume television – has enabled easy access to more acquired content, including iconic shows like Gilmore Girls. And according to Nielsen’s most recent Streaming Content Consumer Survey, the search for content to watch starts with streaming. In fact, 80% of adults 18-34 start their search for video content on streaming platforms, compared with just 68% of adults 18 and older.

Meanwhile, many current television programs have more raw, realistic storytelling than was prevalent in the 1990s and early 2000s, says Brian Fuhrer, Nielsen’s television historian. “Some of these powerful programs can be emotionally draining to stream. It can be hard to binge content like that, especially when the world is already so complex today.”

In contrast, Cocomelon (an animated show about children’s songs) and Bluey (an animated series about a puppy) are easy to digest, although young adults were probably never the target audience. Viewers 18 to 34 years old, however, watched 6.6 billion minutes of Cocomelon last year and 2.9 billion minutes of Bluey.

In the newest phase of the streaming wars, much of the industry is focused on producing high-profile, landmark content as a way to attract audiences. Amazon’s Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, for example, came in at No. 15 among original streaming programs and is reportedly the most expensive TV series in history.

There is no denying the draw of new original programming, but audiences aren’t abandoning the comfort of the classics, especially women 18-34. For this group, what’s old is new again.

The post With almost 1 million video choices, women 18-34 turn to classic TV appeared first on Nielsen.

Editor’s note: The percentages in this edition of The Gauge reflect a change to how viewing of content from virtual multichannel video programming distributors (vMVPDs) and multichannel video programming distributor (MVPD) apps is reflected. Please refer to the methodology and FAQ section below for full details.

Much can be said about the seasonality of TV usage, and viewing trends in February were very much in line with historical norms, as total usage of TV dropped 5.1% from the previous month. While in line with seasonal norms, TV engagement in February confirms a very basic truth: viewership reflects the availability of what audiences are looking for.

Across categories, February had fewer high-demand, mass-appealing programs than January, which led to declines in viewership across broadcast, cable and streaming. January is always a banner month for TV viewing, highlighted by the culmination of the NFL season, which sets the bar very high. 

Audiences did not, however, have a shortage of content options in February, especially across streaming platforms, which welcomed a wide array of original and acquired content, complemented by a host of movie additions, including Black Panther: Wakanda Forever on Disney+. As a result, streaming platforms remained the favored destination for TV audiences, but overall viewing to streaming content was down 0.9% from January—the smallest decline across categories. Despite the drop in total streaming viewing, the category gained 1.5 share points to account for 34.3% of TV usage.

Within the streaming category, Tubi TV became the latest service to achieve a 1% share of TV usage, joining Pluto TV as the second free, ad-supported platform to be broken out from the “other streaming” category. Other streaming highlights in February included:

• New Amsterdam was the most-viewed streaming program, with 4.6 billion viewing minutes across Netflix and Peacock.
• The Last of Us was the second most-viewed program, with 4.4 billion viewing minutes on HBO Max.
• Viewing on YouTube (main) was up 2.5%.
• The arrival of a new season of You on Netflix generated 4.2 billion viewing minutes, but overall usage on the platform was down 6.7%.

Usage across broadcast and cable was down 9.2% and 5.7%, respectively. Sports viewing on broadcast was down 64.7%, with only the Super Bowl to rely on after the NFL playoffs concluded in January, and the 3.6% rise in drama viewing and the 6.8% rise in sitcom viewing weren’t enough to cover the loss. As was the case on broadcast, a 2.4% rise in cable news viewing (driven by the State of the Union address) wasn’t enough to cover the 34.6% drop in sports viewing, resulting in a 5.7% drop in total cable viewing.

February data trends with Brian Fuhrer

Methodology change explained

Methodology and frequently asked questions

The Gauge provides a monthly macroanalysis of audience viewing behaviors across key television delivery platforms, including broadcast, streaming, cable and other sources. It also includes a breakdown of the major, individual streaming distributors. The chart itself represents monthly total television usage, broken out into share of viewing by category and by individual streaming distributors.

The post With less high-demand content available, total TV usage drops in February; streaming stays strong appeared first on Nielsen.

Today, streaming is the dominant TV option because audiences continue to gravitate toward the growing wealth of content they can access online, either through a TV-connected device or because they live in homes that receive their TV programming through broadband internet connections. As of December 2022, audiences had access to more than 821,000 distinct titles¹ across streaming platforms, compared with only 231,000 available on traditional linear channels. This abundance of streamable content is attractive to audiences, and they’re actively leveraging technology to access it.

As of Jan. 15, 2023, 84.9% of U.S. households had at least one TV-connected device. We see similar trends among households migrating away from cable and satellite boxes altogether, as 33% of U.S. TV households in third-quarter 2022 accessed their TV content solely through a broadband internet connection (BBO homes). As of Jan. 15, 2023, the percentage had grown to 35.5%.

Importantly, the bounty of choice has not inspired increases in total consumption. Compared with the huge spikes in TV usage that COVID-19 drove, our daily use of television has long-since come back down from orbit and is largely flat with where it was pre-pandemic. Given the rise in connectivity, however, Americans are spending significantly more of their daily TV time with content they access with an internet connection.

Traditional programming remains a media staple, but audiences are watching more on their schedules

Internet-connectivity notwithstanding, audiences have not abandoned traditional, linear programming, as time spent with broadcast and cable still outweighs time spent streaming. In looking at how audiences are accessing that content, however, we can see that our on-demand lifestyles are now filtering into how we engage with traditional programming as well. Said differently, audiences are increasing the amount of traditional content they watch after it originally airs (commonly referred to as time-shifted viewing). 

For example, the four primary English networks in the U.S.² debuted seven new primetime dramas in September. These programs attracted a total of 25.5 million viewers during live and same-day viewing. In the week after they aired, the total grew to just under 40 million viewers. We see similar trends in aggregate programming as well. In third-quarter 2022, time-shifted viewing among audiences 18 and older accounted for 17% of weekly time spent watching traditional television. At the start of 2021, the percentage was 13.6%.

Interestingly, this trend is more pronounced among Black audiences, who spend significantly more time with live and time-shifted TV than other groups. Among Hispanics and Asian Americans, time-shifted viewing trends are flat year-over-year, but the time spent watching time-shifted content is well below that of the general population. And from an overall TV usage perspective, Asian Americans spend notably less time than other groups and the general population.

The other important growth trend pertains to households that receive their TV programming through traditional cable and satellite services. Despite the fact that broadcast and cable programming are dominant in these “cable-plus” households, they are steadily adding non-traditional content to their media diets. 

As of third-quarter 2022, audiences in these homes spent just under one hour and 10 minutes with content accessed via TV-connected devices each day, up from just 40 minutes in third-quarter 2019. These households are also the most common TV households, accounting for 51.5% of the TV homes in the U.S.³

New content options and channels will continue to emerge to engage audiences, and we know from recent trends that having the right content definitely draws a crowd. And while audiences increasingly gravitate to digital channels, it’s clear that today’s media diets straddle the gambit across traditional and emerging—and will continue to do so as long as individual channels and content providers offer audiences options that appeal to them.

Notes

1. Gracenote Global Video Data
2. ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX
3. As of third-quarter 2022, over-the-air homes accounted for 15.3% and BBO homes accounted for 33.2%.

The post Connectivity is driving how Americans are engaging with TV appeared first on Nielsen.

Out of the 10 movies up for best picture this year, The Fabelmans stands alone in being classified as “emotional,” according to Gracenote Video Descriptors. Comparatively, films like All Quiet on the Western Front, Avatar-the Way of Water and Women Talking have brought the “powerful” mood back to the forefront this year, as there are six “powerful nominees in total. Last year, there were only three “powerful” films nominated for best picture (Dune, The Power of the Dog and King Richard). In total, eight of this century’s best picture winners have been classified as “powerful.”

With only one of this year’s best picture nominations being classified as “emotional,” there’s a very strong chance that we’ll see a change in recent history. Whether we see a more significant shift beyond this year will depend on winners over the next few years. To date, “emotional” films in the best picture category have dominated well before 2017. During the 94-year history of the Oscars, 22 winners have been “emotional,” second only to “powerful,” which has been the mood of 23 winners. And on the flipside, “introspective” and “sensual” are the only two primary moods (out of 17) that have not been associated with best picture winners. 

Despite the lack of “emotional” films in this year’s best picture nominations, the Academy has not completely ignored the mood this year: Five of the six main acting nominations are associated with films associated with the “emotional” mood. 

“Fun” is the other popular mood among this year’s best picture nominees: Everything Everywhere All At Once, The Banshees of Inisherin and Triangle of Sadness all have “fun” as their primary mood.

Despite its presence this year, “fun” isn’t a mood that has been associated with Best Picture winners in recent years. Since the turn of the century, only 2015’s Birdman and 2012’s The Artist have been categorized as “fun” movies.

Last century, the most successful period for “fun” movies at the Oscars was between 1969 and 1978, when Oliver!, The Sting, One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest and Annie Hall each made off with Best Picture awards. Aside from the two this century, there have only been two “fun” winners since: Terms of Endearment (1984) and Shakespeare in Love (1999).

Movie metadata provides a film’s behind-the-scenes information

Importantly, the job of video descriptors isn’t limited to describing the moods associated with movies. Metadata is used to describe much of a film’s behind-the-scenes information, such as theme, scenario, setting and genre, which can be used by platforms to aid in audiences’ discovery journeys. Video descriptors can also tell us the time periods in which movies are set. 

Before the mid 1950s, best picture winners most frequently featured the time periods in which they were filmed, particularly between 1939 and 1956. During this period, 13 of the 18 best picture winners were set when they were filmed. Halfway through the century, historical epics gained in prominence, with Around the World in 80 Days, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Ben-Hur and Lawrence of Arabia all took the best picture award in a span of seven years starting with the 1957 ceremony. Musicals, many of which include a historical setting, were also at their height during this period, with Gigi, West Side Story (which was contemporary), My Fair Lady, The Sound of Music and Oliver! winning the best picture award between 1959 and 1969.

Historical settings have remained popular among best picture winners in the years since, but only two of the best picture winners since 1999’s Shakespeare in Love were set before 1920 (2001’s Gladiator and 2014’s 12 Years a Slave). More recently, films with contemporary settings have come back in fashion, as the best picture winners between 2012 and 2019 were all set in the times in which they were filmed. 

One time period that has never resonated with the Academy, however, is the future. And while this year’s Everything, Everywhere, All At Once includes sequences that take place in parallel settings, its primary time period is contemporary. And when it comes to fantasy themes, 2004’s The Lord of the Rings:The Return of the King stands alone as a best picture winner throughout the 94-year history of the Oscars.

In addition to looking into movie metadata to find commonalities among Academy-nominated films over time, these types of descriptors are critical in helping audiences find what they’re looking for when the titles become available to watch at home. With more than 976,000 unique video titles¹ available to audiences as of January 2023, applying hyper-detailed meta descriptions, including mood, can help platforms curate more personalized video experiences for content-hungry audiences.

Note

1. Gracenote Global Video Data

The post Mood swings: This year’s Best Picture nominations lean into ‘powerful’ themes appeared first on Nielsen.

Compared with just a few years ago, releasing a movie to theaters and a streaming service at the same time is no longer unusual, if for no other reason than the audiences that streaming attracts. In 2022, Americans streamed more than 19 million years’ worth of content—up from almost 15 million years’ worth in 2021. And from a movie perspective, Americans streamed more than 112 billion minutes of the 15 most-viewed movies of 2022, up from almost 84 billion minutes of the 15 most-watched movies of 2021.

But with audiences returning to theaters throughout 2022, many of this year’s Best Picture nominations have yet to land on a streaming service. The extended period between theatrical and streaming releases of this year’s nominations reflects evolving distribution approaches in light of reduced concerns about COVID-19 last year. Compared with 2021’s Don’t Look Up, which only had a 14-day exclusive in theaters, 2022’s Triangle of Sadness made its theatrical debut Oct. 7, 2022, but remains unavailable to streaming audiences nearly six months later.

When the 94^th Academy Awards were held March 27 of last year, all but one of the Best Picture nominations had been made available to streaming audiences, which attracted significant viewership across five  different platforms. The tight window of theater exclusivity for all but one of the movies gave audiences an opportunity to see the movies in the comfort of their own homes ahead of the Oscars. In 2021, for example, audiences streamed 211 million hours of CODA, which went on to win three Academy Awards in 2022, including Best Picture.

The streaming availability of these titles so close to the Oscars also fueled a halo effect of viewership after the hype of the awards ceremony, as audiences streamed almost 8.5 billion minutes of the nine Best Picture nominations throughout all of 2022.

Fast forward a year, and we see that only one of the 2023 Best Picture nominations was released to U.S. theaters and a streaming service simultaneously: All Quiet on the Western Front, the third adaptation of the 1929 novel of the same name. And as a result, U.S. audiences had streamed 1.7 billion minutes of the film through Feb. 12, 2023. Comparatively, four of this year’s Best Picture nominations have yet to be made available on a streaming service.

That means that these films will likely experience a viewing resurgence when they do migrate to streaming, just as Elvis did when it landed on HBO Max in August 2022 after a 45-day period of theater exclusivity. Viewership got an additional boost after it was nominated for an Oscar, as audiences had streamed 568 million minutes of the film in 2023 through Feb. 12, 2023 (2.122 billion minutes streamed in 2022).

As audiences continue to gravitate toward streaming, movies remain a significant driver of TV engagement. At the height of the pandemic, streaming even provided the movie industry with an audience when going to theaters wasn’t an option. Three years later, with much of everyday life largely back to normal, movie distribution is much more balanced, with streaming providing an extension to reach additional audiences beyond those who opt to see films in the theaters.

The post Oscar watch: Tracking the streaming distribution strategies behind this year’s Best Picture nominations appeared first on Nielsen.

Across TV options, broadcast benefitted the most from the usage increase, as dramas and sports drove a 2.1% increase in broadcast usage. Across the category, viewing to dramas rose 29% from December to accountfor 23.5% of the total and sports jumped a whopping 55% to pull in 25.3%, with the NFL playoffs capturing the 10 most-viewed programs during the month. On a year-over-year basis, however, broadcast viewership was down 6.0%.

Streaming usage increased 1.2% from December 2022, with Amazon Prime Video gaining 9.3% in usage. The arrival of a new season of Jack Ryan and the movie Shotgun Wedding helped Prime Video gain 0.2 share points to end the month with 2.9% of total TV. Hulu (including Hulu Live) was up 2.9% in usage and added 0.1 share points.

While Netflix’s share of TV held steady at 7.5%, the end of the holiday season had an impact on Disney+ , which declined 9.9% and lost 0.2 share points.

Cable usage was flat compared with December, as a 22% increase in sports usage couldn’t make up the gap left by the 19% decline in cable movie viewing—an additional viewing trend associated with the closing of the 2022 holiday season.

Methodology and frequently asked questions

The Gauge provides a monthly macroanalysis of how consumers are accessing content across key television delivery platforms, including broadcast, streaming, cable and other sources. It also includes a breakdown of the major, individual streaming distributors. The chart itself shows the share by category and of total television usage by individual streaming distributors.

The post High-demand sports and streaming content fuel a rise in total TV usage in January appeared first on Nielsen.

Before the debut of House of Cards, the political drama series on Netflix, which was the first TV series to appear exclusively on a streaming service, virtually all other streaming content had been licensed from other sources. Perhaps viewed as an experiment or a risk by some at the time, original content has grown to become a competitive advantage for streaming services, as many original titles attracted viewers to the platforms, and in some cases, they outperformed acquired content.

In total, Americans streamed more than 19.4 million years of content last year, up 27% from about 15 million years in 2021. The increase was driven by the breadth of new and expanded services, coupled by the depth of content—particularly streaming originals. In the years following the arrival of House of Cards, annual viewership reviews would highlight the incredible support that deep libraries of acquired content would provide. That changed in 2022, as viewing minutes for top-performing original content dramatically outpaced top-performing acquired content, with Netflix’s Stranger Things taking the top slot among all series.

In total, audiences watched 52 billion minutes of Stranger Things in 2022, the highest total since COVID-driven lockdowns drove audiences to watch 57.1. billion minutes of the Office back in 2020. The dominance of original content is underscored even more by the fact that there are only 34 episodes of Stranger Things, while there are 192 episodes of the Office. 

On the other hand, sometimes one is all it takes, as audiences watched 27.4 million minutes of Encanto, a full-length animated feature that premiered on Disney+ in late December 2021. That equates to it being watched 269 million times. While Encanto had 12 full months to accumulate so much viewing and land on the top streaming list, Netflix’s Wednesday, which debuted in late November 2022, made the cut with just 36 days of availability on Netflix. 

While original content came of age with audiences in 2022, it’s important to highlight that across all streaming content–original, acquired and movies–only four titles were originals. This highlights the immense attraction that library content holds for viewers who spent billions of minutes throughout the year watching popular titles like NCIS, Grey’s Anatomy, Bluey, Seinfeld, Criminal Minds and the Simpsons.

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