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Football Lifts Broadcast TV to Record 20% September Surge, Nielsen Says

Streaming still held the largest share at 45.2%.

Overview

  • Sports drove the rebound, rising to 33% of broadcast viewing in September from 11% in August.
  • Broadcast and cable each accounted for 22.3% of total TV time, with broadcast edging cable on an unrounded basis.
  • NFL games filled the top 15 broadcast slots and the top five cable telecasts, led by matchups on Fox, CBS, NBC, ESPN and NFL Network.
  • Younger adults powered the linear gains as broadcast viewing among 25–34 year‑olds climbed 65% and cable rose 16%.
  • Platform shares showed YouTube at 12.6% and Netflix at 8.3%, with fewer billion‑minute streaming titles as Netflix’s Wednesday topped 7 billion minutes and Prime Video set a Thursday Night Football record with over 3 billion minutes viewed.