CSSE - TV usage drops again but cable gets a basketball bounce

2023-04-23 10:31:00 ET

Television usage fell for a second straight month in March, even as cable viewing got a bit of a boost from the always-popular college basketball playoffs.

Overall TV consumption fell 2% in March vs. February, according to " The Gauge " from Nielsen, the ratings firm's monthly overall look at TV delivery platforms. In February, it had fallen 5.1% month-over-month.

That's typically in line with seasonality -- but also like last year, Cable got a sports boost, and in March 2023 became the only vector to grow both usage (up 0.6%) and its share (to 31.1% of TV time, from the prior month's 30.2%). March Madness -- heavily broadcast on Turner channels ( WBD ) -- is among the top television events of each year.

Broadcast viewing fell by 4.4%, and the category dropped TV share for the fifth straight month -- to 23.3% from its previous share of 23.8%. And "Other" usage -- heavily videogaming, but also including such uses as viewing video discs -- dipped to 11.6% from 11.7% share.

Streaming maintained its hold as the top usage of a TV, but it also suffered from viewers flocking to March Madness, with usage dropping 2.6%, and streaming declined in share month-over-month for the first time since last August (to 34.1% from 34.3%).

Turning to the individual streaming platforms, they retained their relative positions in March, though a couple of smaller names picked up some points. YouTube ( NASDAQ: GOOG ) ( NASDAQ: GOOGL ) was the top individual streamer, though its share ticked down to 7.8% from February's 7.9% -- and it was still enough to hold a share lead on Netflix ( NASDAQ: NFLX ), which held steady at 7.3%.

Hulu ( NYSE: DIS ) ( CMCSA ) also held steady, at 3.3%, and extended its lead over Amazon Prime Video ( AMZN ) when the latter's share dipped to 2.9% from the previous 3.0%. Disney+ ( DIS ) held steady at 1.8%; then there was a bit more movement.

HBO Max ( WBD ) -- soon to be just "Max " -- shed share to 1.2% from the prior 1.3%, while Peacock ( CMCSA ) added yet again, to 1.1% from 1.0%. And in the free ad-supported TV streaming space, Tubi ( FOX ) ( FOXA ) held serve at 1.0% share, while Pluto TV ( PARA ) ( PARAA ) bumped up to 0.8% from 0.7%. "Other" streamers (including smaller services like Crackle ( CSSE ) as well as linear streamers like Spectrum ( CHTR ), DirecTV ( T ) and Sling TV ( DISH )) were steady at 6.8%.

Pay TV distributors: Comcast ( CMCSA ), Charter ( CHTR ), Dish Network ( DISH ), Verizon FiOS ( VZ ), Optimum/Suddenlink ( ATUS ), Atlantic Broadband ( OTCPK:CGEAF ), Sparklight ( CABO ).

Relevant local broadcast tickers: Nexstar Media Group ( NXST ), Sinclair Broadcast Group ( SBGI ), Gray Television ( GTN ), Tegna ( TGNA ), E.W. Scripps ( SSP ). National broadcasters: ABC ( DIS ), NBC ( CMCSA ), CBS ( PARA ) ( PARAA ), Fox ( FOX ) ( FOXA ). And some ad-tech names tied to connected TV: The Trade Desk ( TTD ), Magnite ( MGNI ), PubMatic ( PUBM ), Criteo ( CRTO ), Roku ( ROKU ).

More on television viewing

• After a lull, TV ratings back on the slide, UBS notes
• So long, HBO name: WBD goes for 'Max' power in merged streaming service
• 'You' leads streaming for Netflix, but more companies scoring hits

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