Summer vacation for millions of kids and teenagers began in June, and with that came a sizable leap in screen time — enough, in fact, to push streaming platforms to their highest share ever in Nielsen’s monthly snapshot of TV usage.
Streaming represented 37.7 percent of all TV use in June, a high since Nielsen began releasing its Monthly Gauge reports in 2021. Streamers gained 1.3 percentage points compared to May, while cable (30.6 percent of TV usage) fell by half a point and broadcast networks (20.8 percent) slipped by two points vs. the previous month. Other TV use — including video came console play and physical media playback — increased from 9.7 percent in May to 10.9 percent in June.
Nielsen notes that the 2-11 and 12-17 age groups increased their TV use by 16 percent and 24 percent in June, a reflection of extra free time provided by the end of the school year. Young TV users spent more than 90 percent of their increased TV time on streaming — where titles like Disney+’s Bluey and Netflix’s Cocomelon are perennially popular — and video game console usage.
Paramount+ made it to 1 percent of total TV use in June, becoming the 11th individual streaming platform listed in the Gauge rankings. Six others hit monthly highs in June: YouTube (8.8 percent), Netflix (8.2 percent), Prime Video (3.2 percent), Disney+ (2 percent), Tubi (1.4 percent) and Peacock (1.2 percent).
Nielsen’s Gauge rankings for June 2023 are below.
Platforms
Streaming: 37.7 percent of TV use
Cable: 30.6 percent
Broadcast: 20.8 percent
Other: 10.9 percent
Streaming Services
YouTube: 8.8 percent of total TV use
Netflix: 8.2 percent
Hulu: 3.5 percent
Prime Video: 3.2 percent
Disney+: 2 percent
Max: 1.4 percent
Tubi: 1.4 percent
Peacock: 1.2 percent
Paramount+: 1 percent
Roku Channel: 1 percent
Pluto TV: 0.9 percent
All others: 5.1 percent
