Not Netflix, Not Prime Video: Nielsen Says This Is America's Most Popular Streaming Service

Mark Cowley

Fri, October 30, 2026 at 11:15 AM UTC

Woman watching a movie on TV — Yuganov Konstantin/Shutterstock

The way that Americans watch TV continues to change, and a new report from Nielsen delves into the details about the evolving trends. Viewing data from August 2026 saw streaming crowned the most popular format for TV consumption by a considerable margin, attracting 49.6% of viewing time, up 0.6% from July. A handful of major streaming services made up the bulk of that viewing time, but one service is comfortably ahead of the rest in terms of market share.

YouTube leads the way in the streaming market, with 15.8% of market share, according to the report. It's comfortably ahead of its nearest rival, Netflix, which commanded a 7.7% share in August. Disney, Prime Video, and Roku rounded out the top five most popular services, with 4.8%, 4.2%, and 2.9%, respectively.

The streaming market is now far larger than either broadcast viewing or cable, with each format accounting for less than 20% of overall viewing time. Streaming's increasing dominance came amid a general slowdown in TV watch time in August compared to the previous month, which Nielsen said was due to the conclusion of the FIFA World Cup.

Even when viewers were consuming less TV overall, YouTube managed to increase its total watch time by 6% compared to the previous month. That means it keeps its lead as America's most-watched TV distribution company, beating both Disney and Netflix.

YouTube has risen in popularity in recent years

YouTube button on a TV remote — Melnikov Dmitriy/Shutterstock

YouTube's rise to the top isn't simply because people are cancelling their Netflix accounts . The Google-owned streaming platform has seen a consistent rise in popularity for several years now, having risen to second place behind Netflix back in August 2022. The following month, YouTube's viewing time increased to a record high, jumping ahead of Netflix to take the first-place spot for market share in Nielsen's data.

By August 2023, YouTube had secured its place at the top of the table, with 9.1% of TV watch time compared to Netflix's 8.2%. A year later and the gap had further widened, with YouTube's market share increasing to more than 10% while Netflix saw a marginal decline. Nielsen's data for August 2025 showed YouTube's increasing dominance, with 13.1% of TV viewing time being attributed to the streaming service. With YouTube TV's long list of features and an ever-expanding range of content to pick from, YouTube's status as America's most popular streaming service looks unlikely to be challenged anytime soon.

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Read the original article on SlashGear .

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