Christmas Day drives streaming to record 47.5% of TV viewing in December 2025: Report

Streaming accounted for 47.5% of total television viewing in December 2025, setting a new record and surpassing the previous high reached in July, according to Nielsen’s monthly report, The Gauge.

The viewership was driven largely by a surge in viewing on Christmas Day, when streaming usage reached 55.1 billion minutes. That marked an 8% increase over the earlier single-day record of 51.2 billion minutes set on December 25, 2024, and only the second time daily streaming viewership has crossed 50 billion minutes.

Christmas Day viewing was boosted by back-to-back NFL games streamed on Netflix, followed by the release of new episodes of Stranger Things, along with Prime Video’s late NFL game.

Together, Netflix and Prime Video accounted for 22.5% of total TV usage that day. Overall, streaming made up 54% of all television viewing on Christmas Day, the highest single-day share ever recorded. Streaming also crossed the 50% mark earlier in the month, on Dec. 13, when it represented 50.4% of TV usage.

For the full month, streaming usage rose 3% compared with November, outpacing the overall growth in total TV viewing. Several platforms reported their highest monthly shares to date.

Netflix captured 9.0% of total TV viewing in December, up 10% from November. The increase was largely driven by Stranger Things, which generated more than 15 billion viewing minutes and was the most-watched streaming title of the month. Prime Video reached a 4.3% share, rising 12% month over month, supported by four NFL Thursday Night Football games and new episodes of Fallout.

The Roku Channel recorded a 3.0% share, its highest monthly level so far, while Paramount Streaming reached 2.5%, helped by the series Landman, which logged 6.2 billion viewing minutes.

Traditional television viewing continued to trail streaming. Broadcast television accounted for 21.4% of total TV usage in December, while cable made up 20.2%.

FOX and CBS led broadcast programming, driven by NFL games, including FOX’s Eagles vs. Bills matchup on December 28. CBS also topped non-sports programming with Tracker and 60 Minutes, each drawing more than 10 million viewers on a live-plus-seven-day basis.

Cable sports viewing increased 16% during the month and represented 9% of total cable consumption. NFL games dominated cable telecasts, led by ESPN’s Monday Night Football games and an NFL Network broadcast on Dec. 27.

The December 2025 reporting period covered five weeks, from Dec. 1 through December 28, following Nielsen’s broadcast calendar, which begins weekly measurement on Mondays.