The Gauge™: March Madness Lifts Cable, Streaming Competition Grows as Seasonal Trends Take Effect

Seven different platforms deliver Marchs most-watched streaming titles.
Streaming achieves its largest share to date with 43.8% of TV.

Oscars and Tracker dominate broadcast, while basketball and news represent top cable telecasts.

NEW YORK – WEBWIRE – Tuesday, April 15, 2025

After several dynamic, record-setting months, Nielsens March 2025 report of The Gauge revealed that television viewing trends have started to settle into more seasonal patterns. According to the report, the NCAA tournament helped drive cables traditional March increase, the Oscars stood out for broadcast, and in a competitive month of high-profile streaming releases, the top programs in March were represented by seven different streaming platforms.

Time spent watching TV in March was down 6% compared to February as seasonal shifts take effect, but it did not halt the momentum of streaming. With 43.8% of TV usage in March, the streaming category increased its share of the viewing pie versus February (+0.3 pt.) in an exceptionally competitive month as prominent new releases drove viewership across a number of platforms. Most notablyand for the first time ever in a monthly Gauge reportthe 10 most-watched streaming titles in March were distributed by seven different platforms: Prime Video, Hulu, Disney+, Max, Paramount+ Netflix and Apple TV+.

Now included under Warner Bros. Discovery Streaming*, Max notched the largest month over month increase among streaming services and jumped 6% in March, largely on the strength of The White Lotus. Meanwhile, YouTube achieved a new platform record for a second consecutive month with 12.0% of total TV watch-time (+0.4 pt.), despite slightly lower viewing levels compared to February.

Cables share of viewing benefited from college basketballs favorite time of year: March Madness. Cable climbed to 24.0% of TV usage (+0.8 pt.), buoyed by a 29% lift in cable sports viewing and another strong month of cable news viewership. Atop the most-watched cable sports telecasts in March were NCAA Mens Elite Eight games between Alabama-Duke and Texas Tech-Florida on TBS. Meanwhile, cable news programs accounted for seven of the top 10 cable telecasts, led by FOX News Channels coverage of the presidential address to a Joint Session of Congress on March 4, which drew 11 million viewers on the network and over 36 million viewers in total.

The bright spot for the broadcast category this month was ABCs presentation of The Oscars on March 2, which was the most-watched program in March with 20.3 million viewers across ABC and the simulcast on Hulu, illustrating the latest success of multiplatform distribution. Similar to last months Super Bowl on FOX + Tubi, viewers that streamed Hollywoods Biggest Night on Hulu were three times as likely to be 18-34 and twice as likely to be 35-49 versus audiences that watched via other means, underscoring the effectiveness of cross-channel content availability with younger audience demographics.

Across the rest of the broadcast category, scripted dramas accounted for 28% of its total viewing in March. Tracker on CBS represented five of the top 10 broadcast telecasts, with each averaging over 10 million viewers (L+7) despite stiff competition from several March Madness games. The absence of football was evident this month, however, as broadcast viewership fell by 9% versus February to finish the month at 20.5% of TV.

* Note: Viewing totals among the following streaming services have been aggregated into a single distributor total in an effort to better represent these companies as they go to market:

Paramount+ and Pluto are represented as Paramount Streaming.Max and Discovery+ are represented as Warner Bros. Discovery Streaming.Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ are represented as Disney Streaming (since Jan. 2025).

The March 2025 interval included dates 02/24/2025 through 03/30/2025. Nielsen reporting follows the broadcast calendar with measurement weeks that run Monday through Sunday.

About The Gauge

The Gauge is Nielsens monthly snapshot of total broadcast, cable and streaming consumption that occurs through a television screen, providing the industry with a holistic look at what audiences are watching. The Gauge was expanded in April 2024 to include The Media Distributor Gauge, which reflects total viewing by media distributor across these categories. Read more about The Gauge methodology and FAQs.

About Nielsen

Nielsen is a global leader in audience measurement, data and analytics. Through our understanding of people and their behaviors across all channels and platforms, we empower our clients with independent and actionable intelligence so they can connect and engage with their global audiencesnow and into the future. Learn more at www.nielsen.com and connect with us on social media (X, LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram).

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