Paramount jumps to 8.9% while Netflix records 8.3% TV share: Report

Nielsen’s November 2025 Media Distributor Gauge showed a television market shaped by live sports, major streaming releases and the Thanksgiving holiday, with several distributors posting notable month-over-month gains.

Paramount recorded a 14% increase in overall viewing in November and ended the month with its largest share of television since April. It captured 8.9% of total TV watch time, moving up to No. 3 in the Media Distributor Gauge rankings. Its 0.7-point gain was the largest among all distributors and was split evenly between broadcast and streaming. CBS affiliates and Paramount+ each rose more than 18%, adding 0.5 and 0.2 share points, respectively.

Netflix also posted growth with viewing up 10% from October. The streamer added 0.3 share points to reach 8.3% of total TV viewing. The return of Stranger Things accounted for nearly 12 billion viewing minutes during the month. Netflix’s new original series, The Beast in Me and a new Frankenstein film reimagined by Guillermo del Toro together generated nearly 7 billion viewing minutes.

Hallmark recorded the highest percentage increase in November, with viewing up 28%. The gains were driven by holiday movies and the original series Mistletoe Murders, resulting in an additional 0.2 share points and a total of 1.2% of TV watch time.

YouTube and Disney maintained the top two positions despite changes lower in the rankings. YouTube held steady at 12.9% of TV viewing, while Disney slipped 0.9 share points to 10.5%. Nielsen attributed Disney’s decline largely to reduced viewing at ABC affiliates and ESPN, linked to a carriage dispute with YouTube TV.

NBCUniversal reported a 7% increase in overall viewing, reaching its highest total since October 2024 with 8.8% of TV viewing, up 0.2 points. The increase was led by a 22% jump in streaming on Peacock, driven by NFL Sunday Night Football, Thanksgiving Day programming and the original drama series All Her Fault.

Peacock achieved a non-Olympic monthly record 1.9% share of television in November, according to Nielsen’s The Gauge.

FOX saw uneven performance across its properties. Broadcast affiliates rose 22% from October, led by the Thanksgiving Day NFL game between Green Bay and Detroit and World Series Games 4 through 7. The final game ranked as the sixth most-watched telecast of the month. Cable performance declined, with Fox News Channel down 9% and FS1 affected by the absence of the MLB postseason. Overall viewing at FOX rose 2.4%, but the company lost 0.3 share points to finish November with 8.1% of TV viewing, as total TV usage increased 5.5%.

The November 2025 reporting period covered five weeks, from October 27 through November 30.