Broadcast viewing typically rises in the fall, with the start of a new TV season and a host of live sports offerings. The fall of 2024 is proving no different.
Broadcasters claimed their highest share of TV use in the United States in nine months in October, accounting for 24 percent of all viewing for the month. That’s the highest figure for over-the-air networks since January (24.2 percent) and a gain of 1.4 share points from September.
NFL games made up the 16 most watched telecasts of the October period (which ran from Sept. 30-Oct. 27 in Nielsen‘s reporting), led by 27 million viewers for Fox’s broadcast of the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers on Oct. 20. Sports viewing as a whole on broadcast outlets grew by 10 percent compared to September.
Broadcast dramas also posted significant monthly gains as all five English-language networks had hour-long series running in October. Viewers spent 29 percent more time with network dramas than they did in September.
Cable posted its first gain in share of TV use since April, rising two tenths of a point to 26.3 percent. Sports again played a big role in the gains, as viewing of sports on cable rose 52 percent from September with NFL, college football and Major League Baseball playoff games all featured. News viewing rose by 5 percent month to month.
With the gains by cable and broadcast, streaming fell off a little in terms of share, snagging 40.5 percent of TV use in October vs. 41 percent or more in each of the previous three months. Other TV use (gaming, physical media playback and the like) was at 9.2 percent, its first time below 10 percent in a year.
YouTube was again the most viewed individual streaming platform with 10.6 percent of all TV use in October, three points higher than second-place Netflix.
Nielsen’s Gauge figures for October 2024 are below.
