TV-Nutzung steigt im Dezember; Videospiele sorgen für großen Zuwachs

Die Zuschauer sahen in der Silvesternacht 105 Milliarden Minuten fern

TV viewing in December continued its annual ascent to its seasonal January peak as usage increased 1.7% from November. Part of this was driven by younger audiences increasing their video game usage while away from the classroom during the winter break. That fact notwithstanding, the December interval included the day with the second-most viewing of the year (behind Super Bowl Sunday): TV viewers watched 105 billion minutes of programming on New Year’s Eve.

After four consecutive monthly gains, the broadcast category lost its momentum, as usage dipped 4.3% from November. Adults 25-34 drove the biggest declines, as they watched 13% less broadcast programming than in November. Sports remained hot, with NFL games accounting for 12 of the top 13 broadcast telecasts during the month. New Year’s Rockin’ Eve on ABC took the 13th spot. And while sports maintained the lion’s share (28.5%) of broadcast viewing, sports viewing dipped 3.5% from the previous month. The news genre was one of the few gainers, with usage increasing 6% to account for 12% share of broadcast.

Dank zahlreicher hochkarätiger Sportereignisse stiegen die Kabelzuschauerzahlen gegenüber November um 1,3 %. Football-Spiele machten die 14 meistgesehenen Kabelübertragungen aus, wobei das NFL-Spiel am 30. Dezember 2023, der Orange Bowl, das NFL-Weihnachtsspiel und der Cotton Bowl die ersten vier Plätze belegten. Die vielen Ballspiele steigerten den Anteil der Sportübertragungen im Kabel um 8,4 %, aber das Spielfilmgenre nahm im Dezember den größten Teil des Kabelkuchens ein (21,4 %) - fast das Dreifache des Sportanteils (8,1 %). Aufgrund der allgemeinen Fernsehnutzung verlor das Kabel jedoch 0,1 Prozentpunkte und beendete den Monat mit 28,2 % der Fernsehnutzung.

Similar to broadcast and cable, streaming remained challenged by the scarcity of new content, yet a handful of titles started to arrive, including Leave The World Behind on Netflix, which accounted for 4.5 billion viewing minutes. That title, combined with Young Sheldon, the month’s runaway program winner with 6.7 billion viewing minutes, contributed to a 5.8% increase in Netflix viewing (Young Sheldon streams on Netflix and Max). In aggregate, streaming usage was up 1.2%, but it wasn’t enough to gain share, given the increase in total TV usage. Notable platform-level changes included a 6.6% increase in Tubi viewing that led to a 0.1 share bump and a 3.4% drop in YouTube usage that led to a loss of 0.4 share points.

Despite the record-breaking football season, this was not a typical fall TV season. The scarcity of new content across the entire ecosystem will soon turn the corner, with ramped-up production expected to begin delivering new scripted programming as soon as mid-January. Yet while the abbreviated broadcast and cable seasons won’t have the awareness and promotion that comes from fall sports, the recent streaming success of Young Sheldon und Suits highlights that the success of any one program isn’t limited to its original airing.

Datentrends im Dezember mit Brian Fuhrer

The Gauge provides a monthly macroanalysis of audience viewing behaviors across key television delivery platforms, including broadcast, streaming, cable and other sources. It also includes a breakdown of the major, individual streaming distributors. The chart itself represents monthly total television usage, broken out into share of viewing by category and by individual streaming distributors.

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