The Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina, Italy vaulted NBCUniversal and Versant ahead of YouTube in Nielsen‘s Media Distributor Gauge report.
The breakdown by distributor, as well as the monthly Gauge look at market share for individual streaming platforms, were issued by Nielsen on Tuesday after a high-profile delay. The company had initially planned to roll out changes to the Gauge‘s methodology, only to then backtrack after client backlash, with the back-and-forth resulting in a weeks-long delay in the reports’ release.
In the February report on individual streaming platforms, which covers the period from January 26 through February 22, YouTube extended its multi-year streak at No. 1, with 12.7% of all viewing. NBCUniversal’s Peacock jumped 64% over the prior month to hit 3% of total viewing, its highest level since the Gauge launched in 2021.
The Super Bowl was a key driver for Peacock, whose simulcast of the game accounted for more than 20% of total viewership, Nielsen said. Viewers were younger on Peacock, in keeping with broader streaming trends, with 73% of viewers under age 50, compared with 54% overall.
From an company perspective, especially in light of the Super Bowl airing on NBCU, the combination of NBCU and Versant captured 13.1% of all viewing. That was up 48% over the prior months and the share represented the highest since the Summer Olympics in Paris in August 2024.
Nielsen combines measurement of NBCU and Versant, reflecting the companies’ relationship in terms of ad sales. Versant, which has a roster of former NBCU cable TV networks and digital properties, was spun off from Comcast last January. It is a stand-alone, separate company but has enlisted NBCU to handle its ad sales efforts. Networks in its fold like USA Network and CNBC heavily featured Olympics programming in February.
Along with live sports, Nielsen noted strong tune in on Peacock for new original series The ‘Burbs, which was released in full on Super Bowl Sunday. It pulled in the highest average audience among streaming originals in February, and second-highest in minutes viewed. The series premiere was the most-watched episode of the month across all original titles, Nielsen said.
The Olympics groundswell also helped MS NOW generate more viewership of news. The network saw its audience grow 7% over the prior month, adding a full share point to the NBCU-Versant total.