The Olympics Help Push Disney Further Down The Media Distributor Gauge
Nielsen has released its latest Media Distributor Gauge data for August 2024, which takes a look at how much of each studio’s content is being watched. According to August’s Media Distributor Gauge, Disney has dropped into third place, after NBC Universal had a huge boost in viewership in August due to the Olympics, which overtook both Disney and YouTube in taking the largest share of television viewing across linear and streaming platforms.
Universal was able to increase its share from 9.5% in July up to 13.4%, setting both a personal-best and a new record for the Media Distributor Gauge, since it launched in November 2023.
The Olympics gave a major boost to the USA Network by 47%, and Peacock was able to boost its viewership by 39%. So it’ll be interesting to see how this changes next month, when NBC doesn’t have the Olympic boost.
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 issues facing Disney is how its 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: It’s not a huge surprise to see NBCUniversal got a boost in viewership from the Olympics, especially since there was very few major new releases and generally, viewership is down across the board. With the NFL season kicking off and the new Fall season reving up, it’ll be interesting to see how this impacts next month.
Do you think Disney will be able to overtake NBC to get back into first place? Let me know on social media!
Roger Palmer
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