YouTube Leads TV Streaming in the U.S.

raquelgoulartra
1 day ago
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This article is published in collaboration with Statista

by Anna Fleck

Netflix has been looking at ways to remain a frontrunner in the highly competitive and fragmented streaming landscape. While its approach to investing in its advertising tier appears to be paying off, with record ad sales reported in Q3 2025, its move into the gaming market is less certain. Looking ahead, the streaming giant is also exploring a number of new initiatives, including launching Spotify video podcasts in 2026, which will mean the full versions of the selected shows will no longer be shown on YouTube, a main competitor of Netflix.

According to Nielsen’s The Gauge, a monthly report on TV viewing behavior in the United States, streaming continues to play a leading role in today’s television landscape. Streaming reached a share of 45.2 percent of U.S. TV usage in September 2025, leaving cable and broadcast far behind, each at 22.3 percent. This is even with the boost that broadcast and cable received last month following coverage of the NFL and the return of college football.

Aside from some seasonal fluctuations, streaming’s share of TV viewing has grown steadily since July 2022, when it first surpassed cable TV. In July 2025, it reached a record-high 47.3 percent share of total TV viewing in the U.S., driven partly by new content across platforms such as Netflix’s original series Squid Games, the month’s most watched title at 5.4 billion viewing minutes.

Ahead of Netflix’s earnings call on Tuesday, one of the main concerns raised was over the impact of generative AI on streaming platforms. While it is still unclear exactly how the technology will affect streaming companies, Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos said: “We’re confident that AI is going to help us and help our creative partners tell stories better, faster and in new ways." Adding: "We're not worried about AI replacing creativity".

In a letter to its stakeholders, Netflix outlined how it has started to make use of the technology’s opportunities to enhance its work. This includes incorporating it into content production, from pre-visualizing wardrobe and set designs, to de-aging characters in editing, as well as using it to improve its ads business and the quality of recommendations and discovery features.

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