In the United States, cable pay TV is losing momentum to streaming. During the month of July, video streaming represented 34.8% of total television consumption in the US, surpassing cable (34.4%) and traditional broadcasting (21.6%), reports the Wall Street Journal based in a press release published on Thursday, August 18 by the Nielsen media marketing agency.
American audiences watched an average of 190.9 billion minutes of streaming video per week in July. Far below the average 169.9 billion minutes viewers consumed at the start of the lockdown period related to the Covid-19 pandemic in April 2020.
Thus, with an increase of 3.2% in the use of streaming services compared to June, the five weeks of July 2022 marked a new record. More generally, US viewers spent 23% more time watching streaming content and 9% less time watching cable shows compared to last year.
Netflix takes the lion’s share
Netflix, which gained 8% of viewing time on its platform in July, was the most watched streaming service last month thanks to its “Stranger Things” franchise, whose fourth season has aired during this period, or “The Sea Beast.” The streaming giant is closely followed by You Tube with 7.3%. Buoyed by the success of its series “Only Murders in the Building” and “The Bear,” Hulu garnered 3.6% of viewing time. Amazon Prime is not far behind with “The Terminal List” and “The Boys”, which allowed it to progress by 3%.
Unlike these programs capable of attracting and draining a large audience, Nielsen explains the increase in the time spent on streaming platforms due to “a context of slowdown in the production of new content for traditional television and the reduction in part of the sports programs broadcast on these antennas”. “.
This exponential growth in video streaming is an encouraging sign for the many streaming services operating in a saturated market. To consolidate themselves, most of these platforms have invested heavily in the production or purchase of content to attract new customers to the detriment of their profitability and growth. A strategy that is not always enough to seduce viewers. The streaming giant Netflix thus lost 970,000 subscribers between the end of March and the end of June.
Source: BFM TV
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