How things have changed

[dishdude]

Cable and satellite are MVPDs.

YTTV, Philo, Fubo, Sling, etc. are all vMVPDs, so essentially the same thing, but over public IP networks (aka The Internet).

Netflix, Disney+, AppleTV, Paramount+, Peacock, Prime Video, etc. are primarily SVOD services, although most have some kind of live TV offering, and many of the big players have added a whole live section with linear channels, just like cable in at least some of their subscription tiers. This is where I think the Nielsen charts lack some detail. How much of what people are watching on Paramount+ and Peacock are just live broadcasts that could just as well be on YTTV or DirecTV?

There is a bit of a gray area there, but in my mind if the app's main purpose is live TV, it's falls into the traditional cable/sat category. If the app's primary purpose is on demand programming, it's a streaming service.

 

[Jimbo]

Doesn't it all break down to the simplest form ....

If it gets to you over the Internet, it's Streaming

If it gets to you over a Cable or Sat, is in the Cable Catagory (Not Streaming)

Some do Both.

 

[Jimbo]

It seems to me it's the delivery method that determines whether it's streaming or cable/sat, just as it's the delivery method that separates landline and cell service.

Exactly.

 

[Jimbo]

There is a bit of a gray area there, but in my mind if the app's main purpose is live TV, it's falls into the traditional cable/sat category. If the app's primary purpose is on demand programming, it's a streaming service.

See, not you went and Muddled it all up again

It was Black and White (in one regard, internet vs cable)

Now comes the Grey area ... which is why I have been saying, the counting cannot be accurate ... or maybe they should just count both scenarios.

Hows it delivered vs hows it packaged ...

 

[ncted]

Doesn't it all break down to the simplest form ....

If it gets to you over the Internet, it's Streaming

If it gets to you over a Cable or Sat, is in the Cable Catagory (Not Streaming)

Some do Both.

I think it helps to remember who Nielsen's ultimate customers are which is advertising people. Advertisers want to know where to spend their money to distribute ads to the best effect. They don't care about the delivery method beyond who is watching the ads on a specific platform (i.e. demographics). I would guess vMVPDs and MVPDs have very similar demos, while streaming likely looks very different, hence how they decide to split it up.

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[navychop]

Seems to me Nielsen's days are numbered.

 

[dishdude]

Someone wants to watch ESPN. Disney gets paid the same if the viewer subscribes to Comcast, Dish Network or YTTV.

 

[dishdude]

Seems to me Nielsen's days are numbered.

Yeah, way too many other ways to capture that data.

 

[navychop]

I remember how determined they were to get me to sign up. I began to wonder if they were JWs.

 

[Jimbo]

I think it helps to remember who Nielsen's ultimate customers are which is advertising people. Advertisers want to know where to spend their money to distribute ads to the best effect. They don't care about the delivery method beyond who is watching the ads on a specific platform (i.e. demographics). I would guess vMVPDs and MVPDs have very similar demos, while streaming likely looks very different, hence how they decide to split it up.

Except, some , you can get around parts of them ... I like my Zen time ...

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[ncted]

The End of Cable TV: Why Cable TV Companies Are Shutting Down Their TV Service at a Record Pace | Cord Cutters News

The cable television industry is undergoing its most dramatic collapse in history, with operators large and small waving the white flag on traditional TV service and pointing their customers toward streaming platforms instead. What began as a trickle of cord-cutters a decade ago has turned into...

cordcuttersnews.com

 

[navychop]

Bruce, is that you?

 

[Bruce]

Bruce, is that you?

This is me, once again, streaming alone has destroyed Broadcast and Cable combined, 6.3 more.

And yes, I know Nielsen is fine tuning how they do the Gauge, supposed to be done by the fall, will see how that impacts this.

Winter Olympics, Super Bowl Power NBCU-Versant to Gold Medal Performance in Nielsen’s February Gauge Reports | Nielsen

NBCU-Versant notches 13.1% of TV viewing in February, its best since August 2024 amid Paris Olympics NBC...

www.nielsen.com

 

[savarese04]

streaming alone has destroyed Broadcast and Cable combined, 6.3 more.

I had to read this a couple times to clarify what you meant. I thought you meant 6.3% point gain since last month, but you just meant that its 6.3% higher this month (48-41.7).

For those who don't want to look back to last month, streaming has gained 1% point over the past month, at the expense of broadcast+cable. This is going to get worse as more providers (e.g., WOW) decide to shut down. Some folks may migrate to YTTV (currently labeled as "cable") but others will just forego service entirely.

 

[Bruce]

I had to read this a couple times to clarify what you meant. I thought you meant 6.3% point gain since last month, but you just meant that it's 6.3% higher this month (48-41.7).

Correct, the other point I should of brought up, streaming has been up over Cable and Broadcast every month, since April 2025, that is almost a year, doubtful streaming will lose the lead now, specially since Paid Live TV ( except YouTube TV) is still losing millions every year, mostly Cable/Satellite providers.

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[Bruce]

U.S. Cable TV Subscribers 2026: Ongoing Decline & Cord-Cutting Trends

Discover how and why U.S. cable TV subscriptions fell from 105 M in 2010 to 68.7 M in 2026, who’s cutting the cord, and what industry consolidation lies ahead.

www.cablecompare.com

 

[dishdude]

I know I've mentioned this before, IMO it doesn't make sense to subscribe to multiple streaming services. Subscribe, binge, cancel, repeat with the next one.

More Than Half of Gen Z Users Cancel and Renew Streaming Services for a Single Title, Won’t Purchase Full-Price Video Games, New Study Finds

A study has found that more than half of Gen Z cancels and renews streaming subscriptions based on the availability of one TV series or film.

variety.com

 

[Bruce]

I know I've mentioned this before, IMO it doesn't make sense to subscribe to multiple streaming services. Subscribe, binge, cancel, repeat with the next one.

More Than Half of Gen Z Users Cancel and Renew Streaming Services for a Single Title, Won’t Purchase Full-Price Video Games, New Study Finds

A study has found that more than half of Gen Z cancels and renews streaming subscriptions based on the availability of one TV series or film.

variety.com

Yet, Paramount+, Disney and Netflix reported gains in subscribers for the first quarter, waiting on the rest of the streamers to report.

 

[savarese04]

I know I've mentioned this before, IMO it doesn't make sense to subscribe to multiple streaming services. Subscribe, binge, cancel, repeat with the next one.

More Than Half of Gen Z Users Cancel and Renew Streaming Services for a Single Title, Won’t Purchase Full-Price Video Games, New Study Finds

A study has found that more than half of Gen Z cancels and renews streaming subscriptions based on the availability of one TV series or film.

variety.com

Gen Z is such a weird generation though. These are people that consume youtube as their primary source of entertainment and most of them do not own televisions. I know a couple where "movie night" for them is watching on their 13" laptop propped on a stack of books on the coffee table.

I remember playing video games on my 15" TV in the 80s and my younger self would admonish me for doing that today

 

[dishdude]

Gen Z is such a weird generation though. These are people that consume youtube as their primary source of entertainment and most of them do not own televisions. I know a couple where "movie night" for them is watching on their 13" laptop propped on a stack of books on the coffee table.

I remember playing video games on my 15" TV in the 80s and my younger self would admonish me for doing that today

Xennial here and almost all my viewing is done on YouTube, but I use the app on my TV.

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