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Streaming's share of total TV viewing set a new record in April, the third consecutive month it has hit a high, but shows like Grey's Anatomy and The White Lotus show the boost that linear TV can provide.
That's one key takeaway from Nielsen's April edition of its monthly Gauge report of TV viewing.
Streaming overall increased 15% from April 2024 levels and half a percentage point from March, accounting for 44.3% of tune-in, up half a percentage point from March. Broadcast and cable fell 7% and 16%, respectively, over that same year-to-year span, though each managed to inch up from March to April.
The ongoing audience shift worked to the benefit of marquee shows that both stream and air on linear TV, as is the case with Grey's Anatomy and The White Lotus.
Grey's drew 3.9 billion viewing minutes across Hulu and Netflix in April, and posted strong numbers in its 21st season on ABC, with next-day viewing exclusively on Hulu. Season 21 streams on Hulu accounted for 10% of the medical drama's total streaming viewership this month, despite representing just 3% of its episode count. Netflix represented about 60% of its streaming total this month.
Max, which will soon return to its HBO Max roots, pulled in 3.7 billion viewing minutes for The White Lotus, making it the second most-watched streaming title this month. Even with that surge, Max held steady at 1.5% share. The Season 3 finale of The White Lotus racked up 6.2 million viewers across linear and streaming, up 30% from the next-to-last episode and establishing a record for the ensemble series.
YouTube and The Roku Channel each hit all-time highs in April. YouTube reached 12.4% of total TV watch-time, up 0.4 of a point compared with March). Since January, YouTube has added 1.6 points to its share of TV, and 2.8 points since April 2024.
The Roku Channel gained 0.2 share point over March to account for 2.4% of overall TV viewing. Its tune-in has increased 21% since November, which was when the free service began adding access to subscription offerings like Max from within its service. On a year-over-year basis, The Roku Channel topped all distributors tracked by Nielsen with a 67% increase.
The men's NCAA basketball tournament helped broadcast TV's showing, delivering an audience of 18.3 million viewers on CBS for the championship game, with The Masters golf tournament also up 36% from last year. Time spent watching broadcast TV in April inched up 0.3 percentage points to 20.8%.
ESPN's NFL Draft coverage helped cable gain half a share point from March.