In New York, Nielsen's October 2024 report of The Gauge™, released on November 19, 2024, reveals who watched what on television, when they watched it, where they consumed content, why certain programming performed well, and how viewing patterns shifted across broadcast, cable, and streaming platforms.
Broadcast television experienced a remarkable resurgence in October 2024, according to Nielsen's latest data. The category demonstrated a 7% month-over-month growth, securing a 24.0% share of total television viewing time—its highest level since January 2024. This increase represents a gain of 1.4 share points, marking the third consecutive month of growth for broadcast television.
The surge in broadcast viewership was primarily attributed to two key factors: drama programming viewership increased by 29%, while sports content saw a 10% uptick. National Football League (NFL) games dominated the broadcast landscape, claiming the top 16 most-watched programs for the month. According to Nielsen's data, the Kansas City Chiefs versus San Francisco 49ers matchup in Week 7 attracted the month's largest audience, drawing 27 million viewers on FOX.
Baseball also contributed significantly to broadcast success, as Game 1 of the World Series on FOX captured 15.2 million viewers, securing the 17th position among October's most-watched broadcasts. This demonstrates the continued appeal of live sports programming in traditional television formats.
Cable television maintained its significant presence in the viewing landscape, accounting for 26.3% of total TV usage in October—a modest increase of 0.2 percentage points. This marked cable's first positive share change since April 2024. News programming drove cable viewing up by 5%, bolstered by coverage of the Vice Presidential Debate on October 1 and extensive Election Day coverage throughout the month.
Cable sports viewing experienced a dramatic 52% increase, powered by NFL Monday Night Football, college football, and Major League Baseball playoff games. The NFL Monday Night Football contest between Kansas City and New Orleans emerged as October's most-watched cable program, attracting 14 million viewers on ESPN. FOX News Channel's coverage of the Vice Presidential Debate followed with 7.9 million viewers.
Year-over-year comparisons revealed significant growth in specific cable segments, with cable news viewing increasing by 17% compared to October 2023, while cable sports viewing rose by 14% during the same period.
Streaming services maintained their dominant position in October, capturing 40.5% of total television viewing time, though this represented a slight decrease of 0.5 percentage points from September. Most streaming platforms showed minimal month-over-month variations, with eight of the eleven measured services experiencing changes of 0.1 share points or less.
The Roku Channel stood out among streaming services, achieving 12% growth and adding 0.2 share points to reach 1.8% of total television viewing—a record high for the free ad-supported television (FAST) service. Netflix, despite experiencing a 4% decline to 7.5% share (-0.4 points), maintained its leadership in original content. The platform's series "Love Is Blind" emerged as October's most-streamed title, accumulating 4.4 billion viewing minutes.
Looking at individual streaming service performances in October 2024, YouTube maintained steady growth, reaching 10.6% share, while Netflix retained its position with 7.5% share despite a slight decline. Hulu achieved 2.4% share, with Amazon Prime Video securing 3.5% share. Disney+ and Max held 2.4% and 1.2% share respectively, as Peacock and Pluto TV each secured 1.2% share. Tubi reached 0.8% share, while the Roku Channel expanded to 1.8% share, and Paramount+ maintained 1.2% share.
A technical note from Nielsen indicated that approximately 25% of Hulu's viewing was inadvertently attributed to Disney+ during this period. This issue was resolved by the end of October and did not impact the Media Distributor Gauge measurements.
The key statistics paint a clear picture of the television landscape in October 2024: broadcast TV achieved 24.0% share, cable television secured 26.3% share, and streaming platforms captured 40.5% share. Drama viewing increased 29% on broadcast, while sports viewing rose 52% on cable. NFL games claimed the top 16 broadcast spots, with World Series Game 1 drawing 15.2 million viewers and Monday Night Football attracting 14 million viewers. Cable news viewing grew 17% year-over-year, cable sports viewing increased 14% year-over-year, Love Is Blind accumulated 4.4 billion streaming minutes, and The Roku Channel achieved a record 1.8% share.