Broadcast television experienced a remarkable surge in viewership during September 2025, climbing by 20% compared to August. This marks the most substantial monthly increase since Nielsen began tracking data with The Gauge in May 2021. The October 2025 release of Nielsen’s The Gauge reveals a significant increase in viewing time dedicated to broadcast television, boosting its share of total TV usage by 3.2 percentage points.
The month concluded with broadcast capturing 22.3% of total television usage, edging out cable for the first time based on unrounded figures. The primary driver behind this growth was attributed to football. Sports programming accounted for 33% of broadcast viewing in September, a significant jump from 11% in August. According to Nielsen, fifteen NFL games aired on CBS, FOX, and NBC surpassed August’s most-watched broadcast in viewership, with the top-performing September telecast exceeding that number by more than double.
Cable television also saw a rise in viewership, fueled by both football and news content. NFL games featured prominently among the top five cable telecasts, including four Monday Night Football games on ESPN and the NFL Network’s coverage of the season’s inaugural international game. News programming comprised over a quarter of total cable viewing, increasing by 9% from the previous month. Overall, sports viewing on cable grew by 11%. Nielsen reported that viewers aged 25 to 34 were key contributors to September’s gains, with broadcast viewing within that demographic rising by 65% and cable viewing increasing by 16%.
Streaming platforms continued to hold the largest share of TV usage at 45.2%, although some platforms experienced declines. Amazon Prime Video celebrated its most-watched Thursday Night Football broadcast on record, with the Sept. 11 Commanders-Packers game amassing over 3 billion viewing minutes. Netflix‘s original series “Wednesday” topped all streaming titles with over 7 billion minutes viewed, followed by “KPop Demon Hunters,” also on Netflix, with 3.6 billion minutes. Despite these successes, Netflix’s overall share decreased by 0.4 points to 8.3%. YouTube remained the leading streaming platform at 12.6%, despite a 2% decline, which Nielsen attributed to the back-to-school season impacting viewership among 6- to 17-year-olds.
The September reporting period encompassed the weeks from Sept. 1 through Sept. 28, consistent with Nielsen’s broadcast calendar.