July was a bit of a milestone for streaming services, with new numbers claiming that more people watched TV via such a service than they did by using a traditional cable offering. It's the first time that has been the case.
The numbers come via Nielsen’s monthly Gauge platform rankings, reported on by THR. According to those numbers, almost 35% of people watched their content via a streaming service like Netflix or Apple TV+, while a little over 34% watched using traditional cable platforms.
Netflix is the big dog
THR reports that one of the reasons for a strong showing was Netflix's Stranger Things, a show which managed to pull in an insane number of viewers. "The high mark for July was fueled by Netflix’s Stranger Things — which racked up 18 billion minutes of viewing time for the month — and other big titles, including The Umbrella Academy and The Boys," the report notes. "Streamers gained more than six share points compared to July 2021 (28.3 percent to 34.8 percent), an increase of almost 23 percent."
Nielsen broke down the 34.8% of TV use that went to streamers, with Netflix taking 8% of the pie compared to all other sources of content. YouTube came in second, but there was no place for Apple TV+ — Apple's streaming service instead has to settle for a place in the "all others" category instead.
- Netflix: 8%
- YouTube (including YouTube TV): 7.3%
- Hulu (including Hulu + Live): 3.6%
- Prime Video: 3%
- Disney+: 1.8%
- HBO Max: 1%
- All others: 10.2%
The win for streaming comes as prices are increasing and new ad-free tiers are being added. Both Disney+ and Netflix are looking for new ways to pull in subscribers, while Apple TV+ remains some of the best value around thanks to its low $4.99 per month price and lack of ads.
