(The Hill) — For the first time in history, viewership on streaming platforms surpassed that of cable and broadcast channels combined last month, highlighting a significant shift in the media landscape in recent months.
According to new figures from Nielsen Media Research, streaming platforms captured 44.8 percent of all viewership in May, while cable accounted for 24.1 percent and broadcast television attracted 20.1 percent of viewers.
“Many anticipated this milestone would occur earlier, but sporting events, news, and new-season programming have kept broadcast and cable TV unexpectedly robust,” Nielsen senior vice president Brian Fuhrer explained in a video discussing the company’s monthly viewership report. “Yet, the trend has shown remarkable consistency.”
YouTube accounted for the largest share of audience of any streamer, notching more than 12 percent of total audience share, while Disney was the legacy media company that took the biggest audience haul on streaming, with 5 percent.
The new figures come as more large media conglomerates are facing major threats to their Wall Street valuations and bottom lines thanks to widespread cord-cutting and changing consumer habits.
At the same time, major tech companies such as Amazon, Google and Netflix have poured millions into sports and entertainment offerings, taking legacy media brands head-on for audience share and advertising dollars.
A recent report from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism found the proportion of consumers accessing news via social media and video networks in the United States (54 percent) is sharply up, overtaking both TV news (50 percent) and news websites/apps (48 percent) for the first time.
