By Angela Palumbo

The evolution of how people are watching their favorite shows and movies has hit a major milestone, as streaming services edged out traditional TV in total usage for the first time ever in May.

According to Nielsen data, streaming hit a record 44.8% of total TV usage last month. That overtook the combined share of broadcast and cable for the first time, which had a combined 44.2% share of TV usage in May.

Nielsen CEO Karthik Rao said in the report that this is a "credit to media companies, who have deftly adapted their programming strategies to meet their viewers where they are watching TV -- whether it's on streaming or linear platforms."

Investors have been paying attention to the shift away from traditional TV for several years. Shows with massive mainstream popularity that are only available on streaming platforms -- like Netflix's Stranger Things, HBO Max's White Lotus, Peacock's Love Island USA, and Apple TV's Severance -- have incentivized users to pay for subscriptions to different services.

Streaming companies have also started to try out different strategies to bring in new subscribers, like cracking down on password sharing, including lower priced ad-tiers, and introducing live events.

Meanwhile, media companies like Warner Bros. and Paramount that have linear TV channels have been focusing on their own streaming services as more people turn away from traditional TV

In May, Warner Bros. reported an 18% decline in first-quarter studios revenue from the prior year, while Paramount reported a 13% decline in first-quarter TV Media revenue.

Of all the paid subscription based streaming services, Netflix is the largest with the most subscribers. However, Alphabet's YouTube is taking the cake for the most screen time overall.

YouTube, a free-to-use platform, represented 12.5% of all television viewing in May, its fourth consecutive monthly share increase and the highest share of TV for any streamer to date, Nielsen reported. Meanwhile, Netflix had 7.5% of all television viewing last month.

"Free services have been a major driver of streaming's overall success," Nielsen said.

Shares of streaming platforms were largely unmoved Tuesday as Wall Street continued to worry about the continuing conflicts in the Middle East. Netflix was down 0.1%, Walt Disney was off 0.9%, Paramount Global lost 0.8% and Warner Bros. Discovery dropped 2.9%.

Write to Angela Palumbo at angela.palumbo@dowjones.com

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

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June 17, 2025 12:18 ET (16:18 GMT)

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