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Football Fuels TV Ads to Record Highs
4 Feb
Summary
- Ad-supported TV viewing reached a 2025 high, driven by football.
- Broadcast TV saw a 22% quarterly jump, boosted by sports.
- YouTube led streaming distributors in December 2025 viewership.
Ad-supported television viewing achieved a new high in 2025, capturing 74.2% of total viewership in the fourth quarter. This growth was significantly fueled by sports, particularly football, which drove an impressive 135% surge in sports viewing.
Broadcast television experienced the most substantial quarterly growth, rising 22% in the fourth quarter. Football's popularity was a key factor, nearly doubling broadcast's sports viewing share to 34% and boosting overall ad-supported viewing.
Younger demographics, especially viewers aged 25-34, showed the largest increase in ad-supported broadcast viewership at 41%. Adults aged 18-49 and 25-54 also saw significant gains.
In December 2025, YouTube emerged as the leading distributor of TV usage, holding a 12.7% share. Disney followed with 10.7%, and Netflix with 9%. Christmas Day 2025 marked another milestone, shattering streaming viewership records with 55.1 billion minutes watched.
