What Streaming TV is Proving in 2026 So Far

What Streaming TV Is Proving in 2026 So Far

After a monumental, record-breaking 2025, has streaming TV kept its winning streak in 2026? The short answer is yes, and then some.

According to Nielsen's The Gauge, the industry's monthly benchmark for how Americans actually spend their TV time, 2026 has kept that momentum going rather than letting it fade.

Nielsen tracks total U.S. television usage across three core categories: broadcast, cable, and streaming. To understand what's happening in 2026, it helps to look back at how quickly streaming got here.

The Records That Set the Stage in 2025

Streaming's breakout moment came in May 2025, when it captured 44.8% of total TV usage, officially outpacing broadcast (20.1%) and cable (24.1%) combined for the first time ever. It was the first time in TV history that more Americans were streaming than watching broadcast and cable combined.

That record didn't last long. Streaming broke it again in July 2025, then shattered it once more in December 2025, reaching 47.5% of all U.S. TV viewing, anchored by a historic Christmas Day that generated 55.1 billion streaming minutes, the most-streamed day ever recorded at the time. Four platforms, Netflix, Prime Video, The Roku Channel, and Paramount Streaming, all hit personal-best shares of TV that same month.

By the end of 2025, the pattern was clear: streaming wasn't plateauing. It was compounding.

2026: The Records Keep Coming

That momentum has carried straight into 2026. Streaming has stayed above 47% of total TV usage for months, climbing to 48.6% in May, another all-time high, before holding steady at 48.5% in June, even as the FIFA World Cup and NBA Finals gave broadcast a boost.

A few standouts have defined the 2026 streaming landscape so far:

• YouTube has led every media distributor, broadcast and cable included, for four consecutive months, holding a platform-best 13.8% of total TV watch-time in June.
• Prime Video posted its best share of TV to date at 4.5% in May, fueled by the final season of The Boys and 20 live sporting events, including NBA Playoff and WNBA games.
• Peacock turned in its second-best share of TV ever in June at 2.3%, powered by 6.8 billion viewing minutes on breakout hit Love Island USA.
• The Roku Channel and Netflix both continued to post steady month-over-month gains as part of a broader lineup of streaming platforms still growing.

Meanwhile, broadcast proved that live events still move the needle. Most recent, the FIFA World Cup and NBA Finals drove broadcast to 19.8% of TV viewing in June. Broadcast also held its highest share of the year at 21.7% in February, thanks to a double whammy of Super Bowl LX and the Winter Olympics, and we can expect another lift from September through December as the NFL season returns.

Why 2026 Matters More Than 2025 Did

2025 proved streaming could eclipse traditional TV viewing. 2026 is proving it wasn't a one-time event. Every few months brings a new high bar, a new platform hitting a personal best, and a new reminder that the audience shift isn't leveling off. Live sports and events, still linear TV's stronghold, are now driving some of streaming's biggest gains too, from NFL games on Netflix and Prime Video to NBA Playoff coverage streamed alongside broadcast.

For advertisers and media planners, that shift changes where attention actually lives, and it keeps moving. TV reach is now spread across an ever-expanding list of platforms and channels, each with its own audience, content strategy, and viewing pattern. That makes a few basic strategy questions more important than ever: who is your audience, where are they watching, what are they watching, and which must-see events can earn you the most attention? Answering those will lead you to a sound media strategy every time.

Where This Leaves Advertisers

Numbers like these are why GDM built GDM StreamingTV around where audiences already are. As streaming keeps claiming a bigger share of the American attention span month after month, brands that don't diversify their video strategy risk missing the majority of the room. GDM StreamingTV puts campaigns directly in front of streaming audiences across premium, brand-safe programming, with the kind of targeting precision and measurement that makes every impression count.

That shift shows up just as clearly on game day. Sports remain one of the top trending moments on television, and streaming has entered the playing field there as well. GDM StreamingTV Sports gives advertisers a way to reach engaged fans by sport, conference, or team, with game-level reporting that shows exactly how a campaign performed.

Streaming has become the channel, and it's still growing. GDM StreamingTV and GDM StreamingTV Sports help your brand grow right alongside it.

Data and figures referenced in this post come from Nielsen's The Gauge, including Nielsen's June 2025 announcement on May 2025 viewing data, its January 2026 announcement on December 2025 viewing data, its July 2026 announcement on May 2026 viewing data, and its August 2026 announcement on June 2026 viewing data. All rights to the underlying data belong to Nielsen.

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