Broadcast recaptured TV viewers thanks to the Olympics in July

In July, broadcast recaptured television viewers, growing a percentage point thanks to high-profile sporting events coupled with the opening weekend of the Olympics, Nielsen noted in its latest report. This shift in viewing meant that cable gave up some ground while streaming also picked up a share point.

This is potentially a precursor to August viewership behavior, which will reflect the full duration of the Olympics. At 28% share, streaming benefitted from the continued momentum of the growing stable of streaming services and a healthy influx of new content to the more established services.

“Behind the scenes, sports also likely impacted streaming’s share. This includes many of the Olympics highlights clips, which were posted on YouTube, where we saw some minutes increase. We’ll stay tuned for next month when we’ll have the full impact of the Games to review,”  said Brian Fuhrer, SVP of Product Strategy at Nielsen.