YouTube Holds TV Crown, But Disney's Sports Surge Narrows the Lead

For the 11th straight month, YouTube topped TV viewership with a 12.5% share in January, but a massive surge from Disney, powered by live sports, slashed the tech giant's lead to just 0.6 percentage points, according to the latest Nielsen Media Distributor Gauge.

• The ESPN effect: Disney’s gain to nearly a 12% share came almost entirely from ESPN, which saw an 82% explosion in monthly viewership from the College Football Playoffs. Viewership on its ABC affiliates also climbed 10%, driven by NFL games and seasonal specials.

• The legacy shuffle: Elsewhere in streaming, Netflix held its ground firmly in third place with just under 9% of TV viewing, while its hit series 'Stranger Things' remained the most-watched streaming program. The performance among other legacy media companies was a mixed bag, with NBCU-Versant and Fox seeing modest gains while Warner Bros. Discovery’s share fell year-over-year.

The results show that despite streaming's fragmentation, marquee live sporting events remain one of the most powerful tools legacy media can wield in the battle for audience against tech platforms.