Streaming TV activity appears to be a slightly lower but still healthy, according to a three-year comparison released by Attest, a consumer research firm.
The firm found that the percentage of people streaming television for more than three hours per day sank from 63.8% in 2022 to 63.1% last year and 60.7% so far this year. The results for those streaming TV for more than one hour per day were a bit less linear, going from 45.9% in 2022, to 48.2% in 2023, to 46.9% so far this year.
A big loser was Netflix. The portion of the viewership using the streaming service at least once per week has cratered. In 2022 and 2023, the percentage of viewers was almost equal (71.2% and 71.7%, respectively). But it sank to 61.8% in 2024. The caveat is that the decline can at least partially be attributed to the company’s crackdown on shared passwords.
Two other popular streaming services had mixed results when gauging their use once per week. Disney+ was at 32.5% in 2022; 38.2% in 2023 and 31.0% in 2024 in this measure. YouTube TV reported this level of use by 15.7% of respondents in 2022; 25.4% in 2023 and 17.3% in 2024.
“The amount of [streaming] TV that Americans watch is declining,” the report stated. “Since 2022, the percentage of people watching TV of any type for more than three hours a day has dropped by 3.1 percentage points to 60.7%. All age groups have cut back on long daily viewing sessions of 5+ hours apart from consumers aged 25-34 who have increased them by +7.3 percentage points to 29.6%.”
The report also focused on other types of media:
- Almost half of U.S. consumers (48.3%) spent more than two hours per day on social media. The study found that 23.6% used TikTok daily in 2022, 31.7% in 2023, and 25.4% so far this year.
- Attest found that 39.3% of consumers streamed music daily in 2022. The percentage shot up to 44.5% last year, but has receded to 36.4% so far this year.
- Podcast use has leveled off. About one-third (33.7%) listened to podcasts weekly in 2022. That portion rose to 41.3% in 2023 and leveled off at 38.8% so far this year.
Signs of the weakening of streaming TV and other services are not new. Last September, for instance, Nielsen’s The Gauge found that streaming viewership fell to 38.3% of total TV usage during August, though it retained the largest share of TV viewing for the month.
The results are from a tracker survey conducted annually in March/April by Attest. The sample includes 1,000 nationally representative U.S. working-age consumers.
Despite the uneven polling, people don’t seem dissatisfied with the streaming experience itself. In April, research from NCTA and polling firm Morning Consult found that 84% of respondents experienced no problems with either their broadband connection or their streaming during the week before they responded. 60% said that the original content from the platforms was high quality.
