Love what Nielsen Gauge says. Strongly dislike how Nielsen Gauge gets there. Streaming now holds 46.7%

Top line first:November 2025 Nielsen Gauge shows streaming at 46.7% of all TV viewing. Broadcast drops to 23.2%. Cable slides to 20.5%.

That headline matters. Streaming clearly wins. Full stop.

Now the part that drives me nuts.

Nielsen’s methodology muddies the water. They take linear viewing that happens inside streaming apps  (VMVPD) and credit it back to the original broadcast or cable source. Straight from Nielsen:

“Linear streaming (as defined by the aggregation of viewing to vMVPD/MVPD apps) is excluded from the streaming category as the broadcast and cable content viewed through these apps credits to its respective category.”(Methodology change implemented Feb 2023)

https://www.nielsen.com/data-center/the-gauge/?utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=organic-social&utm_campaign=nielsen-audience-outcomes_ee_global&utm_content=the-gauge_adv-age_am-toolkit-newsfeed-c_

Translation:You’re watching “linear TV” inside a streaming environment, but Nielsen pretends it’s still traditional broadcast or cable.

That’s not fair to anyone

Then there’s YouTube at 12.9%, buried in super-small font is the word main. What Nielsen is really showing is YouTube Main. Yes, it’s streaming but it’s not CTV in the way buyers, planners, or advertisers think about CTV. It’s mostly UGC, inconsistent formats, and nothing like long-form episodic programming on premium streaming platforms. No knock on YouTube  it’s just its own category.

So why does this chart look weird?Because attribution is weird.

What I do love:

·         The data is consistent

·         The trend is undeniable

·         Streaming is now the dominant form of media consumption

What I don’t love:

·         The confusion

·         The blending of apples, oranges, and YouTube bananas

·         How many people look at this chart and think they’re seeing the full picture

Hope this helps clear it up because the shift is real, even if the scoreboard is messy.

#CTV #Streaming always getting better for Local Advertisers