YouTube Takes 14.2% of US TV Viewing, and That Number Leaves Out Phones

YouTube Takes 14.2% of US TV Viewing, and That Number Leaves Out Phones

Nielsen's July figures put YouTube at a record 14.2% of US television viewing time. Netflix fell to 7.8%, slipping to fourth among all distributors.

The comparison is actually unkind to YouTube. Nielsen's Gauge only counts viewing that happens through a television screen, so phones and computers are excluded entirely. Almost all Netflix watching happens on the living room TV, while a large share of YouTube watching does not, and none of that sits inside the 14.2%. The same report also files YouTube TV, the paid channel service, separately from YouTube itself. What the number measures is who owns the living room, not who gets the most viewing time overall.

July was not an ordinary month either. The World Cup and the summer schedule pushed total streaming to a record 49% share. A single month's ranking can be swung by one event, so it does not translate straight into a long-run trend.

Source: Nielsen's The Gauge (Image: @BrianSozzi)