Nielsen: YouTube still rules TV viewership, but legacy media’s new playbooks are gaining ground

The latest data from Nielsen says YouTube continues to dominate the living room, but the real story in May’s viewership numbers is how legacy media giants are finding new life. Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox were the month’s top climbers by leaning into two very different, and sometimes desperate, strategies: premium live sports and free, ad-supported streaming.The last dance: For Warner Bros. Discovery, its viewership spike was a story about one thing: TNT’s NBA Playoffs broadcast. The network’s viewership surged 69%, a bittersweet victory as this marks the last season for its NBA games before the rights move to competitors next year.The free playbook: Fox’s growth engine was its free ad-supported streamer, Tubi. While NASCAR viewership helped, Tubi hit a platform-record 2.2% of all TV viewing, proving that giving content away for free is an increasingly powerful way to capture a massive audience.FAST forward: The free, ad-supported TV strategy is building serious momentum. Services like Tubi and The Roku Channel are carving out major territory, with the top three FAST platforms now commanding a larger share of TV viewing than any single broadcast network, according to Nielsen.The new TV battlefield: The data shows that while streaming is the future, the paths to success are diverging. Legacy media is now fighting a two-front war, betting on both high-cost live events and the high-volume, low-cost world of free streaming to stay in the game.Also on our radar: The success of free ad-supported TV is becoming clearer, with a recent report noting Tubi has over 100 million monthly active users. Meanwhile, a deeper analysis of the Nielsen numbers breaks down just how much each legacy media company still relies on its declining linear TV business to stay afloat.