Paramount overtakes rivals to climb TV rankings as streaming gains accelerate in November

Streaming-led distributors reshaped the U.S. television rankings in November 2025, with Paramount climbing to No. 3 and recording the biggest month-on-month share gain of the year, according to Nielsen’s Media Distributor Gauge.

As per the report, Paramount registered a 14% increase in total viewing in November, marking its strongest performance since April. The company captured 8.9% of total TV watch-time, adding 0.7 share points—the largest gain among all distributors. Nielsen attributed the rise to balanced growth across Paramount’s broadcast and streaming portfolios, with CBS affiliates and Paramount+ each posting more than 18% growth, contributing 0.5 and 0.2 share points, respectively.

Netflix also delivered a strong month, posting a 10% increase in viewing and adding 0.3 share points to reach 8.3% of total TV consumption. Nielsen noted that the return of Stranger Things was the single biggest driver, generating nearly 12 billion viewing minutes in November. New original titles, including The Beast in Me and Guillermo del Toro’s reimagined Frankenstein, together contributed close to 7 billion viewing minutes over the month.

Live sports and holiday programming continued to play a decisive role, with broadcast networks benefiting from Thanksgiving and marquee sporting events. NBCUniversal reported a 7% rise in overall viewing, pushing its share to 8.8%, its highest since October 2024. Growth was driven largely by Peacock, which saw a 22% increase in streaming, fuelled by NFL Sunday Night Football, Thanksgiving Day programming and the original drama All Her Fault. Nielsen’s The Gauge reported that Peacock reached a non-Olympic monthly record, capturing 1.9% of total TV viewing.

At the top of the rankings, YouTube retained its No. 1 position with 12.9% of TV usage, while Disney remained No. 2 at 10.5%, despite a 0.9-point decline. Nielsen said Disney’s drop was largely due to lower viewing at ABC affiliates and ESPN, following a carriage disruption linked to the YouTube TV dispute.

FOX posted mixed results in November, with broadcast affiliates up 22% month-on-month, led by Thanksgiving Day NFL coverage and the latter half of the World Series. However, declines at Fox News Channel and the absence of MLB postseason programming on FS1 weighed on cable performance. Overall, FOX ended the month with an 8.1% share of total TV viewing, despite a modest increase in absolute viewing.