The Olympics didn’t begin until near the end of July, but even in just a few days, their effect on TV viewing in the United States was noticeable.
Overall TV use increased by about 2.3 percent in July compared to June, according to Nielsen. That’s a rarity for the month, when usage levels typically drop as broadcast and cable TV slows down.
This year, however, the Olympics reversed that trend — even with only three days of coverage from Paris included in Nielsen’s monthly Gauge snapshot (the measurement covers July 1-28). Broadcast networks had 20.3 percent of TV use for the month, up from its all-time low of 20 percent in July 2023 — and for the week that the Olympics began, it rose to 22 percent.
Peacock usage spiked by 33 percent month to month, as the streaming hub for the Olympics recorded 4.5 billion minutes of viewing just over the games’ opening weekend. The NBCUniversal streamer had 1.5 percent overall TV use in July, up from 1.2 percent in June for its second-best showing ever behind January, when it carried an exclusive NFL playoff game.
Streaming platforms collectively had another huge month, hitting a record share of TV use for the second straight time. Streamers had 41.4 percent of all TV use, up from 40.3 percent in June. YouTube also became the first streaming platform to grab more than 10 percent of all TV use, hitting 10.4 percent. July had four of the 10 biggest single days for streaming since Nielsen began tracking streaming use in 2020.
Disney+ also hit its best share of viewing in July with 2.1 percent of all TV use (thanks in no small part to 4.3 billion minutes of watch time for Bluey), as did the Roku Channel (1.6 percent). Amazon’s Prime Video (3.4 percent of all TV use) had its best showing in eight months.
Cable viewing was about even with June, but its share of TV use fell half a point thanks to the streaming increase. News programming was up by 23 percent compared to June thanks to coverage of the attempt on Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s life and the Republican National Convention; Fox News had 24 of the top 25 cable telecasts.
Nielsen’s Gauge figures for July 2024 are below.
Platforms
Streaming: 41.4 percent of all TV use
Cable: 26.7 percent
Broadcast: 20.3 percent
Other: 11.6 percent
Streaming Services
YouTube: 10.4 percent
Netflix: 8.4 percent
Prime Video: 3.4 percent
Hulu: 2.7 percent
Disney+: 2.1 percent
Tubi: 2.1 percent
Roku Channel: 1.6 percent
Peacock: 1.5 percent
Max: 1.4 percent
Paramount+: 1.1 percent
Pluto TV: 0.7 percent
All others: 6 percent
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