Over 40% of advertising viewed on television in the United States is through online platforms. The rest is split evenly between broadcast and subscription television channels. This analysis comes from an extension to The Gauge report from Nielsen.

In the first quarter of 2025, 72.4% of television viewing was on advertising supported platforms. Perhaps surprisingly, that leaves 27.6% of total television viewing not supported by advertising.

Of the advertising supported television viewing, 42.4% is accounted for by streaming, with 28.9% on subscription channels, which Nielsen classifies as cable, and 28.7% on what it calls broadcast channels.

The new analysis comes from enhancements to Nielsen Streaming Platform Ratings powered by its Streaming Meter.

According to the Nielsen Gauge report for March, a record 43.8% of total television viewing in the United States was from streaming, with cable and broadcast at 24.0% and 20.5% respectively. The streaming category does not include channels delivered through online multichannel services, which are still attributed to either cable or broadcast. The remaining 11.7% is unmeasured audio and video, gaming, and playback from other devices like disc players. YouTube and Netflix lead the online services, with 12.0% and 7.9% of total television viewing respectively.

www.nielsen.com

Roku is acquiring online subscription television service Frndly TV for $185 million in cash, with $75 million held back subject to performance over the next two years. Frndly TV offers channels like A&E, Hallmark, The History Channel, and The Weather Channel, starting at $6.99 a month, with unlimited network video recording stored for up to nine months and up to four simultaneous streams in high definition from $9.99 a month.

“Frndly TV’s impressive growth and expertise in direct-to-consumer subscription services make it a compelling addition to Roku,” said Anthony Wood, the founder and chief executive of Roku. “This acquisition supports our focus on growing platform revenue and Roku-billed subscriptions, with a live content offering our users love at an industry-leading price point.”

“There’s a lot of people that like to just flip through the channels,” he told analysts. “One way I think about Frndly is it’s a lot of brands that I think will stick around, things like Lifetime, Hallmark, A&E. I mean, these brands are popular, they have good content.”

Based in Denver, Colorado, Frndly TV was founded in 2019 by former Dish Network executives. The leadership and team will stay on after the transaction closes, which is expected in the next few months.

Andy Karofsky, the co-founder and chief executive of Frndly said: “Roku’s pioneering role in streaming and its longstanding commitment to customers aligns perfectly with our strategic vision. We believe this combination will help us accelerate subscription growth, given the alignment in core customer demographics and Roku’s leadership position in the connected TV ecosystem.”

In addition to Roku, Frndly TV will continue to be available on all platforms and devices where it’s available today, including Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Google TV, Apple TV, Samsung, Vizio, the web, and mobile through Android and iOS.

Announcing results of the first quarter of 2025, Roku said its total quarterly revenue was $1.02 billion, down on $1.20 billion the previous quarter but up 16% year on year. It made an operating loss of $57 million, compared to a loss of $39 million the previous quarter but an improvement on the loss of $72 million in the first quarter of 2024. It is forecasting net revenue of $4.55 billion in 2025, with a loss of $30 million.

Roku is the leading television operating system in the United States, with the Roku TV OS representing nearly 40% of television units sold, which is greater than those of the next two operating systems combined. As well as licencing its operating system to other manufacturers, Roku designs, makes, and sells its own brand televisions. In addition to Roku boxes, it offers streaming sticks. Its latest designs are designed to be powered directly by the HDMI port of compatible televisions.

Anthony Wood told analysts that trade tariffs could result in a slight decline in television sales but said it was unlikely to its market share. “We’re well positioned, much better positioned than others, given our significant penetration in over half of US broadband households. Our scale is continuing to grow. We’re well on track to achieve 100 million streaming households.”

www.roku.com

TV Globo in Brazil has launched an experimental DTV+ broadcast in Rio de Janiero. The new transmission technology will be commercially available from 2026, ideally in time for the World Cup. Digital Television+ is the name now used for the TV 3.0 transmission standard adopted by Brazil.

Installed at Pico do Sumaré in Rio de Janeiro, the service is medium power and covers areas of the South Zone and Barra da Tijuca in the city. Access will be restricted to professionals using prototype DTV+ receivers. The pilot transmissions use the 300 MHz band with a single frequency network.

The transport layer carries two services in the same 6 MHz channel. One is 1080p VVC at 6 megabits per second, the second uses MPEG-5 LCEVC+VVC coding at 10 megabits per second to deliver 2160p. Immersive audio is delivered in MPEG-H 5.1+4H format. Both services are received using an application in the set-top box.

The system of LCEVC enhancement was pioneered by British company V-Nova, which was founded in 2011. In 2015 it announced its Perseus compression scheme that could augment existing compression to deliver ultra-high-definition services in less bandwidth than competing approaches. The V-Nova technology was later included in MPEG-5 Part 2 Low Complexity Enhancement Video Coding or LCEVC.

With a temporary license granted by the Ministry of Communications and Anatel , the station will operate as a scientific and experimental testing centre. It will be used to evaluate new content and system architecture models, accelerating the development of the industry.

DTV+ can offer 4K resolution pictures, with the potential for 8K. The system uses internet technologies, but an internet connection is not necessary for reception. However, connecting to the internet will allow for interactivity and personalisation.

At the launch event, Paulo Marinho, the chief executive of Globo, said: “DTV+ is another step towards the future. It strengthens the vocation of Brazilian open TV, respects its history and expands its role.”

TV Globo operates free-to-air television networks in Brazil and has international distribution globally.

redeglobo.globo.com
v-nova.com