U.S. Television was up 8% in January as streaming surges and broadcast booms

According to Nielsen's recent findings, the first week of January handily shattered previous streaming records with 197.6 billion viewing minutes. Christmas week 2021 is now taking second place in the highest level of streaming recorded (with 183 billion viewing minutes). This 12% uptick in monthly volume was the highest of any category and resulted in a 1.1% increase in streaming share to set another record at 28.9% of television usage.

For the month of January, streaming averaged 180 billion minutes per week, the highest average weekly figure of any month since Nielsen introduced streaming measurement.

Broadcast consumption was up 9% versus December, a trend driven by arguably the most compelling NFL playoffs ever, and increased engagement with refreshed broadcast dramas, up 22% compared to the previous month. Despite being up 3% in usage, the cable category lost 1.7 share points to finish at 35.6% of television viewing, primarily driven by the seasonal shift away from holiday movies.