Streaming TV retreated a bit to kick off the year as consumers turned to cable for the month.
Broadcast TV clawed back .1% of its viewership for January to end the month at 21.5%.
Cable TV was the surprise winner for the month growing from 20.2% to 21.4%. It’s still down from higher numbers, such as 22.2% in October.
YouTube on TVs shrank again from 12.7% to 12.5%. In January 2025, it was 10.8%, so it was still a good year for the video service.
Meanwhile, Netflix shrank slightly from 9% to 8.8%.
Disney’s numbers now encompass all of Disney Plus, Hulu, and ESPN grew slightly from 4.7% to 4.9%.
Overall, streaming slipped from 47.5% to 47%.
Nielsen – The Gauge – January 2026
HBO Max is no longer being broken out on its own and is now lumped in with Discovery Plus under the Warner Bros. Discovery banner and is holding steady at 1.4%.
Paramount Plus and Pluto are reported together and slipped back from 2.5% to 2.3%. With Paramount in the bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery, should they merge, they would only be at 3.8% of the market, still behind Disney, despite two major studios coming together.
In the realm of FAST (Free Ad-Supported Television), Tubi held on to 2.1%, and Roku Channel held firm at 3%.
It’s clear the television market is due for some upheaval. With the ever-increasing cost of sports broadcast rights, there will come a breaking point for all of these companies. Should someone ever manage to take the NFL off broadcast, it feels like the networks would be doomed, and that is a difficult world to imagine.
IMAGE SOURCE: Shutterstock – Streaming – Poxima Studio
