Nielsen has released its latest Media Distributor Gauge data for February 2025, which measures how much of each studio’s content is being watched. According to the latest Media Distributor Gauge, YouTube was able to overtake Disney to take the lead by gaining 2% over January to capture 11.6% of time spent watching TV across the month. This marks YouTube’s best share of TV to date, and is the second time the pure-play streamer has topped the Media Distributor Gauge since Nielsen began tracking in November 2023.

Last month, Disney had its best monthly performance to date in the Media Distributor Gauge, which was driven by NFL games and the College Football Playoffs. However, Disney lost two share points in February. This is only the third time since the inception of the Media Distributor Gauge that it has not been at the top of the chart.

Unlike most viewership charts, which usually just focus on either streaming or linear viewing, this data highlights how, when combined, the legacy media studios are still more popular than Netflix, which dominates the streaming viewership, but has no linear viewership.

One of the biggest problems with comparing data across different streaming services is that Disney’s content is spread out across different platforms like Hulu and Disney+, and channels like ABC, FX, National Geographic, etc, but this data pulls all of that together, showcasing the overall picture for Disney.

Roger’s Take:  I always find the idea that YouTube is even on this chart in the first place a little strange since its content is so different to everything else, which is made by studios, rather than user-generated content.  Ultimately, however, it still highlights a change in user habits.  YouTube will likely continue to move further and further ahead as time goes by, but I also find it interesting how the linear studios are still pulling in the high watchtime numbers when Netflix is completely dominating streaming according to the Nielsen data.

Do you think Disney will be able to reclaim the first place?  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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