YouTube Hits Record Share of TV Usage in December With 11.1%

YouTube hit a record share of TV usage in December, with the streaming service logging 11.1% of all TV viewing, according to Nielsen’s The Gauge report.

After nabbing a 10.8% share in November, YouTube’s viewing during the last month of 2024 was up 7%, boosting the streamer to reach a 11.1% share of TV usage. Netflix was just behind YouTube with an 8.5% share of TV viewing, tying its platform best share, which was set in July 2023. Netflix likewise saw a 14% viewing bump when compared to November, likely due to its two NFL Christmas day football games and popular releases “Squid Game” Season 2 and “Carry On.”

YouTube and Netflix weren’t the only streamers to see viewership growth, with Prime Video reaching a platform best 4.0% share of TV — likely boosted by its five NFL Thursday Night Football games — and Max posting a 18% increase in December, marking the biggest viewing bump among all streaming platforms.

Streaming viewership across platforms was up 9% in December, leading streaming platforms to reach a new record share with 43.4% of total TV viewing time. The category also grew in November, when streaming viewership saw a 7.6% increase as it reached a record share of 41.6%.

It’s worth noting that the Nielsen’s Gauge report uses broadcast months for its measurements, meaning that December’s report ran from Nov. 25 through Dec. 29, including Thanksgiving and Christmas, but excluding New Year’s Eve. With the holidays traditionally boosting TV viewership, overall TV viewing saw a 4% boost compared to November, with both Thanksgiving and Christmas logging over 100 billion TV viewing minutes.

Thanksgiving and Christmas produced the six most-watched telecasts of the month, with the top three including the Thanksgiving NFL games, which was led by the Giants vs. Cowboys game, which scored 38.5 million viewers on Fox. NBC’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade was the fourth most-watched telecast during the month with 23.8 million viewers, while Netflix’s two NFL Christmas Day games took the fifth and sixth spots.

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