Global Video Streaming: Netflix Subscribers and Nielsen Streaming Share of TV

This report covers subscription and ad-supported video streaming. It uses Netflix investor letters for subscriber and revenue data and Nielsen's The Gauge for US viewing share. Nielsen data covers the US only; Netflix data is global.

In May 2026 streaming accounted for 48.6% of total US TV watch-time, up 1.0 point from April [1]. Broadcast took 19.2% and cable 20.4% [1]. In December 2025 streaming reached 47.5%, then a record in The Gauge [2].

Netflix finished 2024 with 301.63 million global paid memberships, up 15.9% year over year, after adding 18.91 million in Q4 2024 [4]. It crossed 325 million paid memberships in Q4 2025 [3]. At the end of 2022 it had 230.75 million [5]. Membership grew about 30.7% from end-2022 to end-2024 (freereports.online calculation).

Netflix reported 2025 revenue of $45.2 billion, up 16%, and an operating margin of 29.5% [3]. Its ad revenue rose more than 2.5x to over $1.5 billion in 2025 [3]. In Q4 2024 its EMEA region had 101.13 million paid memberships [4].

In Nielsen's May 2026 Media Distributor Gauge, YouTube had 13.8% of US TV time, the largest of any distributor for a third month [1]. Disney had 10.0%, NBCU+Versant 8.4% and Netflix 8.0% [1]. Prime Video reached a platform-best 4.5%, helped by live sports and The Boys [1]. The Roku Channel had 3.1% and Paramount Streaming 2.3% [1].

Disney+ subscriber figures from Disney investor releases were not reviewed for this edition.

• Live sports are moving to streaming. Christmas Day 2025 streaming reached 55.1 billion viewing minutes, led by NFL games on Netflix and Prime Video [2]. Prime Video's 20 live sports events in May 2026 drove 7.5 billion viewing minutes [1].
• Advertising is a growing revenue line for subscription services, as Netflix's ad revenue shows [3].
• Netflix describes its audience of over 325 million paid memberships as approaching one billion people globally [3].

Nielsen's The Gauge measures share of total US TV usage by category (streaming, cable, broadcast, other) for persons 2+. The Media Distributor Gauge groups all of a company's linear and streaming viewing, so Disney and NBCU+Versant shares include their TV networks [1]. The Gauge does not reflect Nielsen currency ratings used for ad sales [1]. The May 2026 interval ran from April 27 to May 31, 2026 [1].

The 'Other' category share of 11.8% in the donut chart is a freereports.online calculation: 100% minus streaming, cable and broadcast [1].

Netflix memberships are paid memberships at period end, from Netflix shareholder letters [3][4][5]. The 30.7% growth figure is a freereports.online calculation: 301.63 / 230.75 - 1. Revenue is in nominal US dollars.