Streaming rose to 40.3 percent in June, setting a record as it nudged past the previous single-category high point of 40.1, set by cable in June 2021. The percentage marks the highest share of TV ever reported in the three years since Nielsen debuted its monthly measurement report The Gauge. Google’s YouTube and Fox’s Tubi both claimed personal bests, respectively hitting 9.9 and 2.0 percent of TV viewing. Four streaming platforms achieved double-digit usage growth: Disney+ (+14.8 percent), Tubi (+14.7 percent), Netflix (+11.8 percent) and Max (+11.0 percent) — each with 20 percent or more of that growth attributable to younger viewers.

“Netflix, largely driven by ‘Bridgerton’ in the month of June but with several other high-performing titles, was the most-watched traditional streaming service of the month with 8.4 percent of all viewership, but YouTube outranked it with 9.9 percent,” Variety observes.

Overall, June streaming viewership increased 6 percent over May, adding 1.5 share points for the TV record. “As streaming makes up a larger share of younger viewers’ television time, the category received a disproportionate bump from the 2-17 age demographic, including a 16 percent increase in viewing from kids 2-11,” according to The Gauge.

June marked “the end of the school year and beginning of summer break for most kids,” leading “viewers 17 and younger to exhibit the largest upticks in TV usage across age demographics,” per Nielsen, which says “younger audiences also helped drive a slight monthly increase in overall TV usage in June (+2.1 percent),” compared to a 1.3 percent uptick in June 2023.

“Meanwhile, traditional linear TV took a bit of a hit in June,” reports Deadline, noting that “the broadcast category lost 1.8 share points and cable fell by 1.0 point,” giving the two a combined 47.7 percent of overall June TV viewership, “fairly typical for the summer months, given a lack of both scripted television and sports. Especially sports.”

July and August appear to be more promising for broadcast and cable viewership, due largely to the 2024 Paris Olympics. “With unprecedented interest already building during the U.S. Olympic trials, NBC is definitely banking on the Summer Games to revive the network leading into the fall season,” Deadline writes.

The lead-up to the U.S. presidential election in November is also likely to juice upcoming broadcast and cable viewing, The Gauge predicts.