For years, we’ve heard about how linear television is dying and streaming is becoming the main way people watch television. Year on Year, Month on Month, people have been cutting the cord and shifting over to streaming platforms like Netflix, Hulu and Disney+.

According to a new report by Nielsen, American broadcast and cable TV viewers dropped below 50% of total television usage for the first time ever. With streaming services now account for 38.7% of the total TV usage time in the United States. This is the highest percentage so far, increasing 0.2% over last month overall, with under 18’s usage increasing 4%, though with the school summer holidays, that would be expected.

Cable television’s usage has dropped to an all-new low of under 30%, while broadcast viewing fell down a further 3.8%. Compared to last year, cable viewing is down around 12.5%, and broadcast viewing is down 5.4%. The other share of viewing is split between other platforms that include video on demand, video games and home video.

YouTube is the most-watched video platform, while Netflix is the most-watched streaming service, with 8.5% of the total viewing time.   Disney continues to pull in audiences across its two streaming platforms, Hulu and Disney+, who together have a 5.6% percent of the total streaming viewing, which is no doubt why Disney is planning on merging the two together, which is what’s happened since Paramount+ and Max have been able to do since they merged with Showtime and Discovery+.

The most watched show of the month was “Suits”, which has had a surge in popularity since the show was added to Netflix and the Australian animated series, “Bluey” continues to be the most popular kids show on Disney+.

With cable and broadcast viewing slowly getting smaller each day as more people cut the cord, this is a major reason why the major studios have been shifting their focus to streaming platforms and more importantly, making money on these platforms since the linear side of the business is much smaller than it used to be.   Most recently, Disney CEO Bob Iger spoke out about how linear channels are no longer core to Disney’s business, and that streaming is going to be one of the core three pillars of the company, along with movies and theme parks.

Do you still have cable?  Let us 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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