August 2025 Media Distributor Gauge: Football’s Return Boosts Streamers

According to the latest Nielsen Media Distributor Gauge for August, the return of football action at both the college and professional levels gave media conglomerates, including The Walt Disney Co. and Fox Corp., a much-needed boost.

The latest report, which examines total viewing consumption through television screens by media distributors across broadcast, cable, and streaming, found that Disney and Fox had the two largest month-to-month gains, up +0.3 and +0.2 share points to stand at 9.7% and 6.7%, respectively. 

ABC affiliates saw a +4% bump, while ESPN registered a +25% gain primarily as a result of college football’s return, with pre-season NFL football sprinkled in. Meanwhile, Fox affiliates were buoyed by a +14% gain as a result of the return of the sport.

Examining the rest of the chart, YouTube remained the most dominant entity in July, accounting for 13.1% of total watch time. However, its streak of month-to-month growth ended at six, as it fell -0.3% from the previous month.  

Disney was in second place, followed by Netflix, which had 8.7% for the month. It also registered a month-to-month decline, falling by -0.1% to remain in third place.

It was followed by NBCUniversal and Paramount, with both remaining flat from the previous month at 7.6% and 7.1%, respectively. 

The bottom half of the chart featured Fox at No. 6, followed by Warner Bros. Discovery in seventh place with a 5.8% share, down -0.3% from the previous month.

Amazon took eighth place in TV usage in August, maintaining a steady 3.9% share. Also remaining firm at 2.8% was the Roku Channel. Scripps stayed flat with a 2.2% share among media companies in August. 

See the media distribution ranking below: