The start of the college football season in late August gave a bit of life to broadcast networks after a summer of declining viewing. The pros packed a much bigger punch in September.
The first few weeks of the NFL season brought a big resurgence in broadcasters’ share of all TV use in the United States, according to Nielsen’s Gauge stats for September. Broadcast outlets accounted for 22.3 percent of viewing, up from 19.1 percent in August and the highest mark since January, when it was at 22.5 percent.
The top 15 network broadcasts of the month were all NFL games on CBS, Fox and NBC, led by 33.8 million viewers for Fox’s Sept. 14 game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs. (ABC and ESPN also delivered several big Monday Night Football audiences, but their totals are, obviously, split between broadcast and cable in the Gauge.) Sports accounted for a full third of network viewing for the September period (which covered Sept. 1-28), with a change in the way Nielsen gathers its data likely contributing to the surge.
Cable also had 22.3 percent of TV use in September (vs. 22.5 percent in August), with NFL telecasts on ESPN and NFL Network accounting for the top five shows. The combined 44.6 percent of TV viewing for linear outlets is the highest since April (45.3 percent).
Streaming remained the largest platform by far with 45.2 percent, but that mark represented a second straight month of declines after a record viewing share of 47.3 percent in July. Seasonal viewing changes largely fueled the dip, as streamers’ sports inventory is smaller (through Prime Video’s Thursday Night Football performed well in the month) and the onslaught of original titles slowed some compared to the summer months.
YouTube remained the top individual streamer with 12.6 percent of all TV use, though its total declined for the second month in a row.
Nielsen’s Gauge numbers for September 2025 are below.
