By Mark Mwachiro

Copyright adweek

After six months of continuous growth, the percentage of people watching streaming experienced a month-to-month decline in August. Meanwhile, the broadcast and cable linear segments showed some life as they both registered gains, disrupting a downward trend that had existed since May.

According to Nielsen’s Media Distributor Gauge, streaming remained the preferred TV viewing format, accounting for 46.4% of usage in August. It fell by -0.9% from July, showing some vulnerability, particularly due to its lack of live sports, such as college football.

Broadcast saw the sharpest rise in consumption as it jumped by +0.7% from the previous month to stand at 19.1%. Meanwhile, cable jumped up by +0.3% to finish with 22.5% for the month of August.

The linear segment of broadcast and cable had a combined showing of 41.6% to streaming’s 46.4% for the month of July. The gap between the two viewing segments remains wide, but there was some slimming in August, with the difference between the two segments shrinking from 6.7% in July to 4.8% in August.

Meanwhile, the Other category saw a -0.1% dip, finishing with 12% for the recorded month.

Looking at the streaming category, YouTube remained in first place among the streaming services with 13.1% of all viewing. Compared to its July performance, which stood at 13.4%, YouTube decreased by -0.3%.

Netflix was in second place with 8.7% of all total streaming consumption. This represented a -0.1% decrease when compared with its July performance.

The Disney group of streaming channels, comprising Disney+, ESPN+, and Hulu SVOD, followed with 4.6%, down -0.1% from the previous month. Amazon’s Prime Video had a +0.1% gain from July to stand at 3.9%.

The Roku Channel finished August flat at 2.8%, while Tubi continued to remain flat with 2.2% of streaming consumption. They were followed by the consortium of Paramount+ and PlutoTV, comprising Paramount Global’s streaming platforms, which remained at 2% for the month of August.

NBCUniversal’s streaming service, Peacock, fell by -0.2% from July to finish at 1.4%, while Warner Bros. Discovery’s streaming services, HBO Max and Discovery+, declined by -0.1% to also finish with a 1.4% share of streaming consumption.

Lastly, the other streaming category saw a -0.2% decrease in consumption, ending at 6.4% in August.

See the media distribution ranking below:

The August 2025 interval spanned five weeks, from 07/28/2025 through 08/31/2025. Nielsen reporting follows the broadcast calendar, with weekly intervals beginning on Monday.