Netflix commands 8.3% of total TV as streaming hits 46% market share

Netflix achieved its most significant monthly growth in recent history during June 2025, capturing 8.3% of total television usage while streaming platforms collectively reached 46.0% market share, according to Nielsen's 50th monthly report of The Gauge released July 15, 2025.

The streaming giant recorded a 13.5% viewing increase over May, adding 0.8 share points and accounting for 42% of streaming's total monthly gain. This performance marks a pivotal moment for Netflix's advertising business, which the company aims to double in 2025 following its successful transition to programmatic advertising partnerships.

According to Nielsen's data, Netflix's surge was driven by highly successful original content, with "Ginny & Georgia" leading as the most-streamed title of the month at 8.7 billion viewing minutes. The platform's content acquisition strategy proved equally effective, as "Animal Kingdom" and "Blindspot" captured second and third positions with 5.71 billion and 5.69 billion viewing minutes respectively.

"The 'Netflix Effect' was in full view," the report states, highlighting how acquired series immediately gained popularity on the platform. The month concluded with the third season of "Squid Game" generating nearly one billion viewing minutes per day across its final three days of the measurement period.

Summary

Who: Netflix, Peacock, Nielsen, and television audiences including significant viewing increases among 6-17 year-olds during summer break.

What: Netflix achieved its strongest monthly performance with 13.5% viewing growth and 8.3% of total TV share, while streaming platforms collectively reached 46.0% market share in Nielsen's 50th monthly Gauge report.

When: June 2025 measurement period (May 26-June 29, 2025) with results announced July 15, 2025.

Where: United States television market across broadcast, cable, streaming, and other viewing platforms measured through Nielsen's comprehensive methodology.

Why: Strong content performance led by "Ginny & Georgia," "Animal Kingdom," "Blindspot," and "Squid Game" season three, combined with summer viewing increases among school-aged demographics and Netflix's expanding advertising capabilities driving platform growth.

Peacock delivers strong performance amid summer programming

Peacock secured the second-largest monthly increase among streaming platforms with 13.4% growth, driven primarily by its original series "Love Island USA." The reality show garnered 4.4 billion viewing minutes, establishing itself as the fourth most-streamed title of June. Peacock's growth contributed to a 0.1 share point gain, bringing its total television share to 1.5%.

The performance represents significant progress for the NBCUniversal platform, which has expanded its reach by 0.3 percentage points compared to June 2024. This growth trajectory aligns with broader industry movements toward diversified content strategies and enhanced viewer engagement during summer months.

Children and teenagers drive viewing surge

Summer break from school created substantial shifts in viewing patterns, with 6-17 year-olds increasing their total television usage by 27% compared to May. This demographic allocated two-thirds (66%) of their television time to streaming platforms, demonstrating the pronounced preference for on-demand content among younger audiences.

Netflix and Peacock particularly benefited from this demographic shift. Viewing from 6-17 year-olds jumped 32% for Netflix and 37% for Peacock versus May, indicating strong appeal of their content libraries to school-aged audiences. This trend supports Netflix's strategic focus on diverse programming that appeals across age groups, particularly as the platform advances its sophisticated targeting capabilities for advertisers seeking younger demographics.

The "Other" category, encompassing video game console usage and set-top box usage, experienced a 14% overall increase versus May. Among 6-17 year-olds, this category surged 41%, reflecting increased gaming and alternative entertainment consumption during vacation periods.

Traditional television faces continued pressure

Broadcast and cable television collectively lost market share despite several bright spots in programming. Combined broadcast and cable share declined from 44.2% in May to 41.9% in June, marking the first time broadcast viewing fell below 20.0% share at 18.5%.

Broadcast television found success through high-profile sports programming. The NBA Finals on ABC dominated the month's top telecasts, with the seven games representing the highest-rated broadcasts. This sports programming helped lift broadcast sports viewership by 17% compared to May, demonstrating the continued value of live events in attracting large audiences.

ABC secured each of the top 12 telecasts in June, including the NBA Trophy Presentation and ABC World News Tonight, reinforcing the network's strength in both sports and news programming.

Cable television experienced mixed results despite overall share decline. NBA Conference Finals on ESPN and TNT ranked as the top two cable telecasts, while a busy news cycle drove cable news viewing up 12% versus May. Special programming also provided highlights, including the Army 250 Parade on FOX News Channel, which attracted 2.8 million viewers, and CNN's "Goodnight and Good Luck," drawing 2.4 million viewers.

Technical measurement and advertising implications

The June 2025 measurement interval spanned May 26 through June 29, 2025, following Nielsen's broadcast calendar methodology with Monday-through-Sunday measurement weeks. This comprehensive approach provides critical data for advertisers evaluating cross-platform campaign effectiveness.

For marketing professionals, these viewing patterns hold significant implications. Netflix's dominant performance, combined with its expanding programmatic advertising capabilities through partnerships with Yahoo DSP, The Trade Desk, and Google DV360, creates substantial opportunities for reaching engaged audiences during peak viewing periods.

The concentration of viewing among younger demographics during summer months particularly benefits advertisers targeting back-to-school campaigns and youth-oriented products. Netflix's ability to capture 32% growth among 6-17 year-olds while maintaining broad appeal across all demographics positions the platform as increasingly valuable for diverse advertising strategies.

Streaming continues market transformation

The 46.0% streaming share represents a 5.4% month-over-month increase, underlining the accelerating transformation of television consumption patterns. This growth occurred despite the seasonal nature of June viewing, traditionally a period when television usage decreases due to outdoor activities and vacation travel.

Netflix's 42% contribution to streaming's monthly gain demonstrates the platform's outsized influence on industry trends. This performance supports the company's aggressive expansion into advertising technology, including the launch of its proprietary Netflix Ads Suite platform and advanced targeting capabilities at postal code level across EMEA markets.

The data reveals fundamental shifts in how audiences consume television content. Streaming platforms now command nearly half of all television viewing, while traditional broadcast and cable continue losing ground to on-demand alternatives. This transformation creates both challenges and opportunities for advertisers seeking to reach fragmented audiences across multiple platforms.

For the advertising industry, these trends necessitate sophisticated cross-platform strategies that account for varying viewing behaviors across demographics and seasons. Netflix's technical infrastructure improvements, including Campaign Manager 360 integration for cross-media measurement, provide tools for navigating this complex landscape.

Market implications for advertisers

Netflix's exceptional June performance coincides with the platform's strategic push into advertising revenue growth. The company has systematically expanded its programmatic advertising capabilities throughout 2024 and 2025, creating new opportunities for marketers to reach highly engaged audiences.

The viewing patterns revealed in Nielsen's report support Netflix's positioning as a premium advertising environment. With limited ad inventory compared to traditional television and high audience engagement levels, the platform commands premium pricing that reflects its unique value proposition.

Seasonal viewing increases among younger demographics create particular opportunities for brands targeting back-to-school periods, youth products, and family-oriented services. Netflix's ability to attract and retain younger viewers while maintaining broad appeal positions the platform strategically for diverse advertising campaigns.

The data also highlights the importance of content strategy in driving platform performance. Netflix's success with both original series like "Ginny & Georgia" and "Squid Game," as well as acquired content like "Animal Kingdom" and "Blindspot," demonstrates the platform's sophisticated approach to content curation and audience engagement.

Terminology guide

Programmatic advertising: Automated buying and selling of digital advertising inventory through real-time bidding platforms. This technology enables advertisers to purchase ad placements across multiple platforms simultaneously, using algorithms to optimize targeting, pricing, and placement decisions. Netflix's expansion into programmatic advertising allows marketers to access its premium inventory through familiar demand-side platforms, streamlining campaign management across streaming and traditional digital channels.

Connected TV (CTV): Television content delivered through internet-connected devices rather than traditional cable or broadcast signals. CTV encompasses smart TVs, streaming devices, gaming consoles, and mobile devices used to watch television content. For advertisers, CTV represents a growing opportunity to reach cord-cutting audiences with targeted, measurable campaigns that combine television's visual impact with digital advertising's precision targeting capabilities.

Cross-media measurement: Analytics methodology that tracks campaign performance across multiple advertising channels and platforms simultaneously. This approach enables marketers to understand how audiences interact with advertisements across television, digital, mobile, and streaming environments. Advanced cross-media measurement helps optimize budget allocation and creative strategies by identifying which platform combinations deliver the highest return on advertising investment.

First-party data integration: The process of combining a platform's proprietary audience information with advertiser campaign targeting parameters. Netflix's first-party data includes viewing behaviors, content preferences, device usage patterns, and demographic information collected directly from subscribers. This integration enables more precise audience targeting while maintaining privacy compliance, as data remains within the platform's controlled environment rather than being shared externally.

Private marketplace (PMP): Invitation-only programmatic advertising auction where select advertisers can bid on premium inventory before it becomes available in open exchanges. PMPs offer advertisers guaranteed access to high-quality placements while providing publishers with greater control over which brands appear alongside their content. Netflix's PMP offerings give advertisers priority access to its streaming inventory with enhanced targeting capabilities and brand safety controls.

Demand-side platform (DSP): Software technology that enables advertisers and agencies to purchase digital advertising inventory across multiple ad exchanges and supply sources through a single interface. DSPs automate the bidding process, optimize campaigns in real-time, and provide comprehensive reporting across all purchased inventory. Netflix's partnerships with DSPs like The Trade Desk and Google DV360 allow advertisers to include streaming inventory within existing programmatic campaigns.

Share points: Measurement unit representing percentage changes in audience share or market penetration over specific time periods. In television measurement, gaining one share point means capturing an additional one percent of total viewing time across all measured platforms. Netflix's 0.8 share point gain in June represents substantial audience migration, as each share point typically represents millions of viewing hours across the measured population.

Viewability verification: Technical measurement confirming that digital advertisements were actually seen by users rather than loaded but not displayed. Viewability standards typically require 50% of an advertisement's pixels to be visible for at least one second for display ads, or two seconds for video content. Netflix's partnerships with verification providers like DoubleVerify ensure advertisers receive transparent reporting on actual advertisement exposure rates.

Upfront commitments: Annual advertising sales agreements where brands commit to spending predetermined amounts on television inventory before the programming season begins. These agreements typically secure preferred placement, pricing guarantees, and audience delivery promises in exchange for early financial commitment. Netflix's 150% increase in upfront commitments demonstrates growing advertiser confidence in streaming platforms as viable alternatives to traditional television buying.

Ad-supported tier: Subscription service level that offers reduced pricing in exchange for accepting advertising interruptions during content consumption. This monetization model allows streaming platforms to capture price-sensitive consumers while generating additional revenue through advertising sales. Netflix's ad-supported tier has grown to represent 40% of new sign-ups, creating substantial inventory for advertisers while maintaining subscription revenue streams.

Timeline

• May 26-June 29, 2025: Nielsen measurement period for June 2025 report
• June 2025: Netflix achieves 13.5% monthly viewing increase, strongest performance among streaming platforms
• June 2025: Peacock gains 13.4% growth driven by "Love Island USA" content
• June 2025: Netflix ads launch on Trade Desk platform in Japan with first-party data integration
• July 1, 2025: Netflix activates advanced targeting suite in EMEA including mood targeting and postal code precision
• July 14, 2025: Nielsen expands CTV tracking to UK Ad Intel platform covering Netflix and other streaming services
• July 15, 2025: Nielsen releases 50th monthly Gauge report showing streaming's 46.0% market share