US streaming viewership surges in July due to Olympics, Nielsen reports

(Reuters) - TV viewership in the United States rose 3.5% in July from a year earlier, largely driven by the summer Olympics in Paris, according to research firm Nielsen's latest The Gauge report.

Streaming platforms amassed 41.4% of TV viewership for the month and accounted for the largest share among all TV viewing formats, including traditional broadcast and cable networks.

The Gauge report unveils TV viewing trends of the U.S. audience across platforms and distributors.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

Media companies including Netflix, Amazon.com and Walt Disney are increasingly investing in sports content and bidding wars for rights to broadcast major sporting events to attract younger viewers.

While the beginning of the Paris Olympics was a major driving factor for the uptick in TV viewership in July, the U.S. presidential election campaign also contributed.

BY THE NUMBERS

All the spotlight was on Comcast's streaming platform Peacock in July as it saw a 33% spike in its monthly usage, mainly boosted by the Olympics and shows such as 'Love Island USA'.

Other streamers that performed well include Amazon.com's Amazon Prime Video and Roku Channel.

YouTube, owned by Alphabet's Google, became the first streaming platform ever to exceed 10% of total TV usage in July, compared with 9.9% in June.

Among the streaming programs, 'House of Dragons' on Max topped with 4.7 billion viewing minutes. 'Bluey' on Walt Disney-owned Disney+ came in second with 4.3 billion, followed by 'The Boys' on Amazon Prime with 4.2 billion.

Meanwhile, the cable news viewership saw a 52% surge from a year ago, thanks to the Republican National Convention and the coverage of the assassination attempt on former U.S. President Donald Trump.

WHAT'S NEXT

The massive viewership on streaming platforms show audiences are increasingly moving away from cable networks, which recorded a TV usage share of 26.7% for the month.

(Reporting by Priyanka.G in Bengaluru; Editing by Shreya Biswas)