Disney Reaches 11.9% of TV Viewing in January, Driven by ‘New Year’s Rockin Eve,’ Sports and Broadcast Dramas

Disney reached 11.9% of total viewing in January, narrowing its gap with YouTube and nearly tying its 12% share from a year ago. But it wasn’t enough to topple the Google-owned video platform, which finished the month with a 12.5% share, according to Nielsen.

The media giant’s momentum was primarily fueled by ESPN’s coverage of the College Football Playoffs and championship games, which drove an 82% monthly viewing increase on the network and contributed nearly a full share point to Disney’s total.

It also saw a 10% boost from ABC affiliates, driven by multiple NFL games, the Citrus Bowl, the return of broadcast dramas and seasonal staples like “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” and “The Rose Bowl Parade.” ABC’s “High Potential” and “World News Tonight” were notably the top broadcast programs in each of their respective genres in January.

Netflix, which saw a 1% increase in overall usage in January, claimed the top streaming program for a second consecutive month with “Stranger Things,” while maintaining its third-place ranking with 8.8% of TV viewing.

Rounding out the top five was NBCUniversal and Paramount with shares of 8.5% and 8.2%, respectively.

NFL games carried on NBC, plus simulcasts on Peacock, were a key factor in the 5% overall increase to NBCU-Versant. Peacock also benefited from a new season of its original series “The Traitors.” Additionally, Telemundo affiliates saw a 13% jump in viewership powered by the sports reality hit “Exatlón,” bringing the network’s monthly share contribution to 0.7 points.

Overall, Versant accounted for 2% of the company’s share, while NBCU made up the remaining 6.4%. Nielsen notes that it will continue to report NBCU and Versant together, given that ad sales for both entities have been retained by NBCU. However, to acknowledge the spinoff, the companies’ respective shares will be included in the Media Distributor Gauge chart going forward. 

The remainder of the list included Fox with a 7.4% share, driven by a 17% jump in viewing on Fox News Channel, which accounted for more than half of the company’s monthly share increase; Warner Bros. Discovery with a 5.5% share; Amazon with a 4.1% share; The Roku Channel with a 3% share; Scripps with a 1.6% share; Weigel Broadcasting with a 1.3% share; A+E Networks with a 1% share; Hallmark with a 0.9% share; and AMC Networks with a 0.6% share.

A+E Networks moved up one slot in the distributor rankings due to an 8% increase in viewership, driven by a 46% increase at FYI and a 14% increase at Lifetime.

The latest figures come as TV viewing hit a 12-month high in January, with streaming accounting for 47% of TV viewing time, while broadcast accounted for 21.5% and cable made up 21.2%.

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