2024 TV Viewership: Streaming vs Cable Ratings, Most Watched Shows & More

2024 Television Viewing Trends: Bluey Dominates Streaming While NFL and Tracker Thrive on Broadcast

The year 2024 demonstrated that a small blue dog emerged as streaming's biggest star meanwhile a major cable series had its final conclusion with sports specifically the NFL becoming a streaming priority and broadcast created a top show around a 76-year-old personality. Some networks had serious declines in viewership across many platforms with significant struggles outside of live sports further illustrating how complicated media consumption patterns are evolving through different medium.

Decline in Reliable Television Ratings Data Due to Shifting Consumption Habits in Broadcasting

Recent shift in viewership habits has caused a noticeable decline of reliable information about ratings specifically impacting broadcast and cable outlets after years of steady reports from public sources. Data from Nielsen has become less granular because it lacks comprehensive viewing habits across a variety of platforms with metrics becoming harder to ascertain as streaming platforms often reveal only overall viewing time rather than other metrics to calculate popularity of programming and total viewership. While most public companies may not report inaccurate information much of the information can be somewhat misleading especially when comparing data from different viewership providers across the many digital providers that can make direct comparison extremely challenging across platforms and programs in terms of direct data comparison.

CW Network Faces Significant Viewership Challenges with Declining Numbers in 2024

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The CW Television Network along with predecessors UPN and The WB have seen their viewership significantly decline with few programing options engaging older adults during this television year. By the 2022-23 broadcast season The CW Network showed some programs exceeding one million views after DVR viewing yet since start of the 2023-24 season that viewership metric has largely vanished. Few sports programming like NASCAR races brought numbers close to one million during the 2024 season but the numbers generally remain far below past viewing highs for the network . Most of the programming currently is below 800000 viewers on average making 2024 the slowest year by view metrics.

Cable News Outlets CNN and MSNBC Experience Downturn After Election Year Viewership Peak

During 2024 election cycle cable news outlets including CNN Fox News and MSNBC all benefited by viewer increase. CNN and MSNBC saw viewership drop significantly after the presidential election period leaving Fox News in the dominate leadership position among viewership. Fox News garnered over 70 percent of total cable news viewership for prime time. Typically media outlets struggle with audience retention after each election however the decline appears significantly slower to reverse with the current situation in the current broadcasting year making viewership among those outlets a concern for media analysts.

Cable Scripted Series Except for 'Yellowstone' Experience Significant Ratings Decrease

Aside from Paramount’s Yellowstone and the limited release promotional airings for the streaming platform Paramount plus and its show "Landman" viewership numbers are down for all the other cable shows that are not live sports. Hallmark Channel’s When Calls the Heart has reached an average of 2.77 million viewers making it the only scripted cable show that reached beyond 2 million during this year. Another Hallmark title The Way Home also got over one million views in live and DVR format during this calendar year. Most scripted programs do not perform beyond an average of 1.5 million views before factoring in streaming figures to live view reports on current media trends and audience viewing preference.

Yellowstone Shatters Records: Viewers Return for Final Episodes After Kevin Costner Departure

Paramount Network's Yellowstone achieved historic record setting viewing numbers when concluding season in 2024. Viewers came back in big numbers when viewing the premiere of Yellowstone that gathered about 16.4 million viewers across nine channels including about one third coming from CBS. The Yellowstone series final broadcast gathered 13.1 million over three days on Paramount Network plus CMT despite a twenty-two month pause between episode showings including the departure of key actor Kevin Costner. The second half of Yellowstone provided high numbers across different viewing platforms which proves audiences still connect with compelling television and high budget series which often have a long running appeal among audiences across numerous generations.

Bluey's Streaming Success: Children's Show Amasses Billions of Minutes Viewed

The popular kids show Bluey was the clear champion across all streaming platforms with total streams matching the 2023 success from show Suits for the current media period in the entertainment space. Disney Plus is currently tracking Bluey for over 50 billion streaming minutes or equivalent to roughly 95000 years which creates huge numbers not often achieved on this kind of scale from children programming. The Disney + show Bluey held a position in Nielsen’s top 10 most watched programing list for 112 consecutive weeks dating back to October 2022 showing its staying power with huge viewership across different formats. The Grey's Anatomy show has tracked with weekly views while sitting almost 7 billion minutes lower compared to Bluey showing the disparity among the shows with high viewing.

NFL's Continued Dominance on Television with Strong Growth in Streaming Viewership for Games

The National Football League maintains the highest viewing figures throughout American television with regular season games largely matching 2023 performance and viewership which is great outcome given the dip in viewership across most platforms when considering the election year. A large number of audiences showed strong support for Super Bowl game this year plus games through Peacock in January and during Christmas match ups provided a positive direction to growing market segment that showcases strength across the streaming medium as a broadcasting option . Prime Video's Thursday Night Football saw over a twelve percent growth compared to last year which provides additional positive metrics for the strength of streaming options among broadcast and live sports for many users in America across various income levels.

Fox News Takes Cable News Primacy During Election Cycle With Audience Growth

As mentioned in previous areas of this article all major cable news channels Fox News CNN and MSNBC had growth during the election with Fox News leading all others in viewership as they recorded 2.41 million viewers during prime time while rising thirty-one percent and averaging 1.47 million viewers across the entire broadcast day seeing a growth by twenty-one percent during this past year. MSNBC had 1.25 million viewers during primetime sessions that amounted to only a three percent climb plus 804000 all-day viewers which is a four percent increase. CNN collected an average of 697000 viewers for prime time hours experiencing a twenty percent positive view growth and a two percent positive movement of 487000 all-day average viewer audience growth during current calendar year.

Tracker and Matlock Lead New Broadcast Shows with Over 10 Million Viewers

CBS' Tracker that stars Justin Hartley opened after the 2024 Super Bowl with about 18 million views with continued support making Tracker the highest rated non-sports program for this period on television during the broadcast season. Tracker is maintaining leadership at number one and averages about 11.4 million non-streaming viewers showing five percent viewership growth versus its initial numbers which had the boost from super bowl audience views. Matlock starring Kathy Bates which is a meta-remake of a prior television program continues to be a breakout program with average views of 10.2 million across seven episodes for non-stream viewers also showing great growth among viewers and being number one for newly launched television programs across multiple networks and platforms with high expectations. Both series also include about 3 million additional viewers when combining streaming views to the live broadcast results further demonstrating viewers preferences for television shows during broadcast launch.

Popular Streaming Originals Dominate Viewership Lists With Bridgerton Having The Highest Minutes Viewed

Various popular shows in their respective streaming platforms led viewer counts which include shows Bridgerton Fallout Love Island Tulsa King Only Murders in the Building and The Bear during this 2024 television cycle across multiple platforms like Netflix Prime Video Peacock Paramount Plus and Hulu. Netflix's Bridgerton is the top performing title with over 16.91 billion streaming minutes during its top-10 run that ran for around 14 weeks while Only Murders In the Building trails closely behind the leading competitor. The show The Bear can still overtake if counting the views over a full calendar period demonstrating unique format can result in close competitor for popular title rankings.

Live Sports on Streaming Dominates The Competition as NBC's Olympic Coverage Sets Streaming Records

NBCUniversal’s Summer Olympic programming easily is the leader within its category if counting streaming viewership with around 23.5 billion streaming minutes across Peacock and their other NBCUniversal streaming options and television channels. Live sports and associated programs are excluded from Nielsen's streaming charts however including NBC’s sports would highlight its significant lead in content viewership among many media providers. Every sport within Olympics provided for NBC contributed significantly with viewership that includes its unique "Gold Zone" coverage which ultimately gained 30.6 million viewers across platforms the most views in Olympic competition since 2012 for any organization or media providers demonstrating high potential for this streaming model during important sports events .

New Shows High Potential And Happy's Place Gain Viewership Success and Build Audience

ABC's High Potential stands at 6.58 million non-streamed viewers and around 10 million via all streaming sources across platforms with about 20 million within initial 35 day launch cycle. NBCs Happy's Place starring Reba McEntire got over 4.74 million viewers creating big viewing numbers among this broadcaster a strong performance for NBC among television shows shown during the primetime slots on Friday evening and a long awaited success for network during this broadcast season. The program marks a long time success for this network when compared to shows shown for the past three seasons.

Women's Basketball Breaks Viewing Records: March Madness and WNBA Attract Increased Audiences

Women's basketball experienced significant growth in viewership in large part because of NCAA player Caitlin Clark with a championship game breaking all previous records with over 18.87 million viewing and that also surpasses male NCAA tournament record by drawing 14.82 million views creating history with a larger female sports viewership then ever before for basketball . The WNBA gained further momentum with increased ratings in televised games that reached the highest level viewership since 1999 illustrating the high interest in the female version of sport among general and casual viewers in USA.

ESPN and SEC Join Forces Resulting in Strong Viewership for Saturday Night Football

ESPN partnered with Southeastern Conference this year acquiring its broadcasting rights that led Saturday Night Football to strong viewership that provided an eighty percent boost when comparing numbers with 2023 numbers on Saturday nights. Primetime spots allocated to SEC teams drove total viewership to around 8 million demonstrating a strong start to collaboration between ESPN with this conference while also driving interest in other teams within the Southeastern Conference for broadcast sports audiences.

AMC and Netflix Partnership Increases AMC+ Subscriptions with Previous Content Library

AMC's licensing deal with Netflix featured fifteen television shows over the summer generating strong Nielsen Chart numbers during that programming session. The shows such as Dark Winds and A Discovery of Witches created considerable streaming popularity that helped to increase subscribers on AMC+ platform demonstrating successful growth using licensed older programming on various digital video services. The television series Interview With the Vampire garnered a fourfold viewership in "first streams" after their season debuted on Netflix according to reports that were recently shared which further demonstrates benefits for both subscription and licensed streaming content.

Live Sports Dominance Among Most-Watched Primetime Telecasts With NFL Olympics Leading the Ranks

Variety released their list for 2024's top 100 watched programs demonstrating live sports supremacy holding 75 slots that are increased from 56 in prior calendar period as audiences strongly connect to real time event driven content rather than pre recorded television series. NFL accounted for 45 spots with an addition of 19 Paris Summer Olympics broadcasts also placing among high rated programs which includes strong NBA final viewership along with World Series events. The 2024 World Series had a huge boost from the Los Angeles Dodgers New York Yankees match up also.

The NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship is included within top 100 telecast while the male event did not, as previously described also confirming the growth of female centric sports viewership across digital platforms this broadcast year as both of these sporting events saw simultaneous broadcast numbers but not accounted for when looking at individual network ratings only demonstrating their unique individual success.

2024's Most Watched Entertainment and Award Shows Also Feature Strong Primetime Viewing

Two big award shows The Oscars and The Grammys had their places among top rated TV events . The Oscars saw 20.2 million viewers after Oppenheimer got the best picture award which grew versus 19.4 million from last year in 2023. The 2024 Grammys viewership jumped to around 18.1 million also demonstrating increase of support vs 13.4 million in 2023 showcasing higher performance overall in all key demographics when measuring ratings. Two additional 2024 presidential election programs had higher viewership demonstrating importance among those platforms. CBS also showed high audience success with shows Tracker Young Sheldon plus four specials that came out of program 60 Minutes also among top view series this media period.

NBC secured top billing for having the largest number of spots overall among networks due its strong Olympic viewership along with its Sunday Night Football programming across all platforms holding a total of thirty eight spots. CBS followed with 25 and then ABC followed with 12 other major providers of media with high numbers overall. These numbers were for live broadcasts plus DVR over seven days excluding live streaming metrics showing some insight into television viewership across the media industry.