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Linear (Cable and Broadcast) TV Viewing Falls Below 50% for the First Time as Streaming Hits a New Record (Schaudenfreud alert)
The Wrap ^ | August 15, 2023 | Adam Chitwood

Posted on 08/30/2023 3:40:24 PM PDT by DoodleBob

Viewing of linear television fell below 50% for the first time in July as streaming viewing hit a new record, according to Nielsen. Total broadcast viewing last month finished at 20% of TV, a new low for the category. On a year-over-year basis, broadcast usage was down 5.4%. Cable viewing slipped to 29.6% of viewing for July, with a year-over-year drop of 12.5%. The top-viewed cable programs of the month were the Home Run Derby and College World Series on ESPN, followed by Hallmark’s “When Calls the Heart.”

Streaming accounted for 38.7% of all TV viewing, a new record led by “Suits” — a red-hot licensed title that’s burning through views on Netflix and Peacock — and “Bluey,” which were the most-watched shows of the month on streaming. Amazon Prime Video, Netflix and YouTube all hit all-time highs for viewing last month according to Nielsen, bolstered by shows like “Jack Ryan,” “The Witcher” and “The Lincoln Lawyer.”

YouTube maintains the largest share of streaming TV usage with 9.2% of total usage (not counting YouTube TV), up 5.6% vs. June. Netflix accounted for 8.5% of usage in July, while Hulu and Prime Video followed with 3.6% and 3.4% respectively.

Sports is expected to bring linear TV’s numbers back up in the fall, but the ongoing double strike is already due to affect the launch of the fall TV season as broadcast networks have set “strike-proof” schedules that lean heavily on reality and competition programming. Case in point: CBS is filling Sunday nights with episodes of “Yellowstone,” Taylor Sheridan’s monumental Paramount Network hit that will be making its broadcast TV debut.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: cable; deathspiral; schaudenfreud; television
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1 posted on 08/30/2023 3:40:24 PM PDT by DoodleBob
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To: DoodleBob

Many of the streaming channels are owned by cable channels


2 posted on 08/30/2023 3:42:04 PM PDT by Fai Mao (Starve the beast and steal its food!)
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To: DoodleBob

And the hits just keep onnah commin


3 posted on 08/30/2023 3:44:40 PM PDT by shadeaud (God gave us the free will and intelligence to choose right from wrong. Use it or lose it!)
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To: DoodleBob

I stream YouTubeTV. Blows cable (Mediascam) out of the water.


4 posted on 08/30/2023 3:46:32 PM PDT by donozark (I'm so old I can remember when Motel 6 was actually $6.)
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To: Fai Mao

Good point and fair enough.

I’ve seen stories that streaming is less profitable.

If so, this cannibalization is bad news.


5 posted on 08/30/2023 3:56:09 PM PDT by DoodleBob (Gravity's waiting period is about 9.8 m/s²)
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To: DoodleBob
I haven’t had cable since shortly after FNC called AZ for Brandon. I stream now and very rarely watch over-the-air TV for things like college football. I’ll watch college football this Saturday and see if it I can handle it. I love football. I love politics. But I have no desire for the two to be mixed. If it’s mixed this Saturday I’ll use the off button on my remote.

In my own world of streaming, I’ve been watching 12 O’Clock High. I haven’t seen that since I was a kid. I’m very pleasantly surprised about the quality of the stories. It’s much deeper than what you can understand as a child. Plus, there’s a major contrast to just about every TV series for the last 25 to 30 years. 12 O’Clock High has male leads with alpha males. There’s none of the constant denigrating of men and attacks on toxic masculinity. Female roles are exactly they way they ought to be: feminine.

6 posted on 08/30/2023 3:56:57 PM PDT by ConservativeInPA (The Delay Trump’s trial, delay. Elect Trump President. Trump pardons himself. )
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To: DoodleBob

“Total broadcast viewing last month finished at 20% of TV, a new low for the category.”

There was a time when broadcast was all that existed. The news was liberal and still is liberal. I’m glad that broadcast is shrinking, proportionally.

Many of the high-ranking shows are not especially liberal. I stopped watching Yellowstone after season 1 as there was no character that I liked.

I’d like to go to Twitter on the big screen (television as opposed to laptop). Rumble is available on my TV, but I have not delved into that yet. OAN and Newsmax are available - a step forward compared to NBC, CBS, ABC, and PBS. We have had some progress.


7 posted on 08/30/2023 4:04:55 PM PDT by ChessExpert (Required for informed consent: "We have a new, experimental vaccine.")
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To: DoodleBob

Freevee is not on the list. 80-90 percent of what I watch is on either Tubi or Freevee.


8 posted on 08/30/2023 4:09:07 PM PDT by ChessExpert (Required for informed consent: "We have a new, experimental vaccine.")
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To: DoodleBob

Broadcast content is below average and commercials are intolerable.

The woke abnormal is a part of everything broadcast and people are not fooled.

They know it’s not representative of real world.

Too many more choices.


9 posted on 08/30/2023 4:12:55 PM PDT by TornadoAlley3 ( I'm Proud To Be An Okie From Muskogee)
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To: TornadoAlley3

How do they know how many are watching via antenna? My little shop tv is not “smart” and only get over the air channels.


10 posted on 08/30/2023 4:17:58 PM PDT by enraged
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To: Fai Mao

Doesn’t matter as streaming doesn’t earn them carriage fees. As streaming grows the business model will have to change, and that will disrupt the industry and break their monopoly on information.


11 posted on 08/30/2023 4:21:57 PM PDT by bigbob (Q)
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To: TornadoAlley3

I have available to me not by my choice a cable package. Occasionally I check to see if anything is worth watching. I can’t recall the last time I did.


12 posted on 08/30/2023 4:22:19 PM PDT by xp38
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To: DoodleBob

Streaming is the nearest thing to ‘ala carte’ because the viewer chooses what to watch and when.

One streaming problem: A relatively small universe of movies and TV programs tend to shift from one service to another. Some do have original programming, but those tend to have 6 to 12 episodes per year, so one has to wait to see the next season.

I like to binge and that was a draw to streaming early on. Now more services are releasing new episodes weekly. I just wait until they are all available and then binge.

More streaming services are adding a lot of foreign movies and TV series. Many of those are dubbed. Some services have a lot of B or even C grade movies — amateurish scripts, acting and production.

Some services are remastering TV series from the 80s and 90s. Those originals were developed for the small screens. Some of the remastering is pretty good for widescreens. If viewers ignore the clothing and hair styles and older autos, etc., the series have better scripts than some modern TV series.


13 posted on 08/30/2023 4:30:21 PM PDT by TomGuy
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To: donozark

YouTube is owned by Google

You are putting money in th pocket of those who are working to enslave you.


14 posted on 08/30/2023 4:44:43 PM PDT by Pontiac (The welfare state must fail because it is contrary to human nature and diminishes the human spirit.)
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To: DoodleBob

My wife and I can’t remember the last time we watched so called real tv.

We stream everything: Britbox TV, PBS for a $5/month donation and free movies on Amazon Prime.

Our tv comes on after our dinner and we stream until about 9:30 pm.

We are in our mid 80’s, and there isn’t much on tv for our age group.


15 posted on 08/30/2023 4:46:34 PM PDT by Grampa Dave (Georgia just crystallized Trump’s campaign with a copyright-free image winning him nomination!)agee)
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To: DoodleBob
I wish I could find the report I saw about three months ago, but a majority of households cutting the cord away from cable or satellite TV *are not* switching to a live TV streaming service (Hulu Live, YouTube TV, Fubo, Sling TV).

Most are either opting for selective streaming on-demand services, choosing some of the free streaming services, going with an antenna for broadcast TV, some combination of those options, or none of them.

16 posted on 08/30/2023 4:55:34 PM PDT by CatOwner (Don't expect anyone, even conservatives, to have your back when the SHTF in 2021 and beyond.)
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To: DoodleBob

Well, when it comes to sports, cable still rules.

The Pac 12 is about to combust because because all their commissioner could offer the teams is some sort of Apple TV/streaming contract.

Washington and Oregon laughed at them and joined the Big 10.


17 posted on 08/30/2023 5:44:09 PM PDT by FLNittany (Autotune is jealous of Karen Carpenter)
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To: Pontiac

The clothes you are wearing probably came from China. If you buy a newspaper or magazine you are giving $ to the enemy. If you eat tuna it may have come from the world’s most famous fish monger, Nancy Pelozi.
My better half picked out Avery $$ dining room table and chairs from Ethan Allen. Made in Vietnam. MIicrosoft. Apple. List goes on and on. Hard to avoid.


18 posted on 08/30/2023 5:54:52 PM PDT by donozark (I'm so old I can remember when Motel 6 was actually $6.)
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To: FLNittany

I have DirecTV Stream, and I love everything but the price. Every month when it hits my account, I think it’s time to cancel.

But you’re right; you can’t beat the sports content.


19 posted on 08/30/2023 6:01:14 PM PDT by scott7278 (Those who beat their swords into plowshares usually end up plowing for those who kept their swords.)
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To: DoodleBob

My streaming is aimed for the toilet bowl.


20 posted on 08/30/2023 6:01:30 PM PDT by lightman (I am a binary Trinitarian. Deal with it!)
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