Nielsen has released its latest “Gauge” data update for October 2024, which has given us a broad overview of how Americans watch television. This includes linear and streaming services like Disney+ and Hulu.

Traditional linear television is still the most popular form of cable and broadcast television combined, but that number is continuing to shrink month after month as more people cut the cord and shift to streaming services.  However, it has had a boost due to the increase in live sports.

October gains in broadcast viewership were driven by a 29% increase in viewing to drama programs, and a 10% bump in sports viewership. NFL games once again dominated the month’s top broadcast telecasts, notching the top 16 most-watched programs. The Week 7 matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers drew October’s largest audience with 27 million viewers on FOX. Outside of football, Game 1 of the World Series on FOX notched 15.2 million viewers and captured 17th on the list of top telecasts.

Cable viewing accounted for 26.3% of total TV usage in October (+0.2 pt.), and the category notched its first positive share change since April. Cable viewership was lifted by a 5% gain in news viewing, led by the Vice Presidential Debate on October 1 and month-long coverage leading up to Election Day, and a 52% boost in sports viewing driven by NFL Monday Night Football, college football and MLB playoff games. Sports and news programs were also at the top of the most-watched cable telecasts list in October, with the NFL Monday Night Football game between Kansas City and New Orleans taking the top slot with 14 million viewers on ESPN, followed by FOX News Channel’s presentation of the VP Debate which drew 7.9 million viewers on the network. On a yearly basis, cable news was up 17% compared to October 2023, while cable sports was up 14%.

Generally, streaming viewership in October was fairly flat compared to last month, with eight of the 11 reported streaming services within 0.1 share point or less of their September totals. The category accounted for 40.5% of total time spent watching TV (-0.5 pt.). Among the streamers with larger monthly differentials, The Roku Channel was up 12% and added 0.2 share points to finish the month at 1.8% of television, a high point for the FAST service. Netflix was down 4% with 7.5% of TV (-0.4 pt.), but still managed to own the top five streaming originals this month, led by “Love Is Blind”, which was also the top streaming title in October, with 4.4 billion viewing minutes.

Nielsen also revealed that a portion of Hulu’s viewing (estimated at approximately 25%) was inadvertently attributed to Disney+ during this interval. The issue was addressed at the end of October and will be correct moving forward. This will not impact the October Media Distributor Gauge.

This is why it’s generally a good idea why its often better to combine Disney+ and Hulu’s share together, especially as most of Hulu’s content is within Disney+ as part of the bundle.

Roger’s Take:  Linear television is still pulling in big numbers, but the majority of that is still connected to sports, which is also slowly moving over to streaming services.   It’s also a reason why Disney isn’t fully giving up on its linear channels just yet.

Did you watch Disney+ or Hulu more in October?  Let me know on social media!

Roger Palmer

Roger has been a Disney fan since he was a kid and this interest has grown over the years. He has visited Disney Parks around the globe and has a vast collection of Disney movies and collectibles. He is the owner of What's On Disney Plus & DisKingdom. Email: Roger@WhatsOnDisneyPlus.com Twitter: Twitter.com/RogPalmerUK Facebook: Facebook.com/rogpalmeruk

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