TV Viewing Gets Thanksgiving Boost in November: Nielsen

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Sports on broadcast rose 2.8% from a year ago

Mariah Carey at NBC's Thanksgiving Day Parade
Thanksgiving — and the parade — boosted November viewing. (Image credit: Cara Howe/NBC)

Television usage jumped 5.7% in November, boosted by the Thanksgiving holiday to its highest levels since January, according to Nielsen.

Viewing during the week of Thanksgiving was up 14%.

Broadcast viewing rose for the fourth consecutive month, while cable dropped to a new low with a 28.3% share.

Streaming grew 4%, but its share dipped to 36.1% from 26.6% in October.

Broadcast’s share rose 24.9% in November from 24.6% in October, powered by an 18.4% increase in usage Thanksgiving week.

Compared to a year ago, broadcast viewing dipped 5.3%, but viewing of sports on broadcast in November was up 2.8% compared to a year ago. 

Cable viewing compared to a year ago was down 13%. Feature films got 19% of cable viewing in November, topping news, which is usually the leading category.

Nielsen said the top streaming show in November was the kids’ show Bluey, with 3.78 billion minutes viewed, topping Grey’s Anatomy with 3.7 billion minutes viewed. The only made-for-streaming show in the Top 10 was Netflix’s All the Light We Cannot See, in 10th place.

The biggest gainer among streaming services was Comcast NBCUniversal’s Peacock, which was up 23% for the month. Peacock got a boost from football and coverage of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Tubi rose 8.3% in usage, to its highest-ever share of usage at 1.4%.

Nielsen November

(Image credit: Nielsen)

YouTube was the top streaming platform, with a 9% share in November, down from 9.1% in October.

Netflix had a 7.4% share, up from 7.2%, followed by Amazon Prime Video with a 3.4% share, down from 3.6%; Hulu had a 2.7% share, down from 3.1%; Disney Plus was 1.9%, unchanged; Tubi 1.4%, up from 1.3%; Peacock 1.3%, rising from 1.1%; Max was unchanged at 1.2%; Roku Channel 1%, down from 1.1%, Paramount Plus 0.9%, unchanged and Pluto TV, 0.8%, unchanged.

Linear (live TV) streaming via MVPD (multichannel video programming distributors) and vMVPD (virtual multichannel video programming distributors) apps represented 6.4% of total television usage in October. Linear streaming is included in the appropriate broadcast or cable category, and is not included in the streaming category.

Jon Lafayette
Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.