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

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. READ: Olympics: Record production hours, high ratings boosted by iconic Paris images, Games broadcast chief says 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. Media companies including Netflix NFLX.O , Amazon.

com AMZN.O and Walt Disney DIS.N 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.

All the spotlight was on Comcast’s CMCSA.O 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 AMZN.O Amazon Prime Video and Roku Channel. YouTube, owned by Alphabet’s GOOGL.

O 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 .