Disney Tops Nielsen Distributor Rankings With Sports, FX And ‘Bluey’

The Walt Disney Co. continued its four-month run as the leader in television usage among media distributors, according to Nielsen’s report for December.

During the month — which this year runs from November 25 to December 29, including both Thanksgiving and Christmas — sports played a big factor, with millions tuning in to NFL and college football games.

Disney had an 11.2% share of TV usage in December with its ESPN network benefiting from football viewing. Disney saw additional gains on cable channel FX (up 45%) and Freeform, which doubled its audience with its annual holiday movie marathon. Bluey, one of the biggest shows in streaming, also gave Disney+ a boost.

YouTube viewing was up 7% in December, giving it an 11.1% share of viewing and a No. 2 ranking.

Netflix was up 14% from November, with gains from its two Christmas Day NFL games, and big audiences for programs including Carry-On, Squid Game and Virgin River. Netflix finished the most with an 8.5% share of TV usage.

Despite high-rated sports including a Thanksgiving NFL game between the Cowboys and Giants that drew 38.5 million viewers, its total for the month was down 14% from November, when the network had baseball’s World Series and presidential election coverage.

Amazon had its best share in December thanks to an NFL game on Black Friday, in addition to its Thursday Night Football slate. Its film Red One drew 5.6 million viewing minutes — most of any streaming title in December — contributing to its 4% share.

The Roku Channel rose to ninth place among distributors in March with a 10% increase in usage. 

Christmas was good to Hallmark Channel, which unwrapped a 13% share, and AMC Networks, which had a 9% share but rode Santa’s sleigh and a month full of holiday movies to a 24% increase in viewing over November.

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