Young Sheldon presented an interesting case study for Nielsen in May.
The series ended its seven-season run on CBS with big viewership while also continuing to dominate across cable streaming as well. The Season 7 finale tallied 11.7M views in L+7, according to Nielsen, which contributed to an overall monthly total of 6B minutes viewed for the series across platforms.
Nielsen reports that Young Sheldon puts up “considerable viewership” in syndication, as reruns air across networks like TBS and Nick-At-Nite — and the series also benefits from a broad streaming presence. It is currently available on Paramount+, Netflix, and Max.
Apparently, Young Sheldon viewership in May was split nearly in half between linear channels and streaming. Undoubtedly, much of that streaming viewership came from Netflix, considering that the series was previously available on both Paramount+ and Max with not nearly as much attention. While the show’s end likely played a part, Netflix’s influence is an important factor.
To further illustrate that point, see Bridgerton. The first four episodes of Season 3 debuted in May, boosting the series to become the month’s most-watched streaming title with more than 5.5B viewing minutes across all available episodes. That rivals the audience put up by Young Sheldon in May, despite it being on only one platform (and having a fraction of the episodes).
Streaming accounted for 38.8% of all TV usage in May, with Netflix taking the second-highest share at 7.6%. That is far higher than its streaming competitors, including Max and Paramount+, which both took a 1.2% share. The only platform to rival Netflix is YouTube, which stands at the top of the list with a 9.7% share.
Nielsen reports that TV usage was up year-over-year, but it was down on a monthly basis. While streaming usage climbed 8% since last year overall, FAST platforms in particular saw significant growth. Tubi usage was up 43%, and The Roku Channel saw a 36% increase compared with May 2023.
Broadcast viewing was also elevated just slightly, with the Kentucky Derby claiming the most-watched broadcast telecast of the month. NBC raked in 16M viewers for the event, which is over 1M more than a year ago.
Meanwhile, cable was down to just 28.2% of usage. Despite the fact that the NBA playoff games tallied big viewership on cable, Nielsen reports that there were fewer televised sporting events in general in May — especially with the conclusion of the NCAA basketball tournament in April.
Sports are usually the big draw. That’s true across all platforms, but especially cable. In a month lacking sports, it’s to be expected that cable would take a hit.
