YouTube accounted for 12.4% of total television viewing in the United States in April. That is getting on for an eighth of all television viewing in the country. It is the highest share of television viewing so far for YouTube, according to the Gauge from Nielsen. Online video also saw its highest share of viewing, at 44.3% of all television viewing, almost as much as all other measured television viewing.
YouTube is the clear leader in online video viewing on television in the United States, far ahead of Netflix with 7.5%, Disney at 5.0% and Amazon at 3.5%.
YouTube viewing also exceeds that for all output distributed by The Walt Disney Company, which includes ABC, which had 10.7% of viewing. Paramount, which includes CBS, had 8.9%. NBCUniversal had 8.2%. These four distributors each exceeded the share of Netflix viewing.
YouTube has ranked as the top source of viewing for three consecutive months of 2025, having topped the list only once in 2024.
Netflix has meanwhile averaged at just under 8% of all viewing. Its most recent 7.5% was the fourth consecutive monthly decline in share of viewing.
That is not to say that YouTube is taking viewing share from Netflix. That would be simplistic. The overall share of online viewing is growing, as is competition from other players like Disney for the attention of online viewers.
Of course, it may be argued that YouTube is not a distributor, let alone a producer, like Disney. Yet it shows the growing significance of YouTube viewing on television.