YouTube took the top position in Nielsen’s February 2025 Media Distributor Gauge, gaining 2% over January to secure 11.6% of time spent watching TV. 

According to Nielsen’s news release, this performance represents YouTube’s best TV share to date and the second time the pure-play streamer has topped the Media Distributor Gauge since Nielsen began tracking in November 2023. The video platform overtook Disney to claim the top spot.

YouTube’s time spent watching on TV screens increased 2.5% compared to January, with nearly 27% of all streaming time in February dedicated to YouTube viewing. The milestone comes as streaming as a category reaches its largest share of TV viewership to date, at 43.5%.

Image credit: Nielsen

Older Demographics Drive Growth

YouTube’s rise comes with demographic shifts in its audience composition. While the platform continues to see growth across all age groups, viewing from adults aged 65+ nearly doubles over the past two years, increasing 96% since February 2023.

The 65+ demographic now represents 15.4% of YouTube’s audience composition, approaching the contribution from the traditionally strong 2-11 age group at 16.9%. Other age groups also show growth, with the 50-64 segment increasing 62% and the 35-49 group growing 50% versus February 2023.

Super Bowl Impacts February Rankings

FOX-owned entities gained 5% in February due to a successful multi-platform Super Bowl and a 3% increase in FOX News Channel viewership. FOX achieved an 8.3% share of TV usage, climbing from sixth to third in the rankings to secure its highest placement to date in the Media Distributor Gauge.

Super Bowl Sunday, February 9, became the second most-watched day of TV in Gauge history with over 110 billion total day viewing minutes. The day fell just short of the previous Super Bowl Sunday (February 11, 2024) by approximately 500 million minutes.

Streaming Narrows Gap with Traditional TV

Streaming notched its largest share of TV to date, with 43.5% of total viewing time in February, while traditional TV (broadcast and cable combined) leads by less than a share point, with 44.4%.

Following YouTube, Netflix represents the second largest share among streaming services with 8.2% of TV viewing. Disney dropped two share points in February following its best monthly performance, falling from the top slot for only the third time since the inception of the Media Distributor Gauge.

Tubi Benefits from Super Bowl Simulcast

FOX’s free streaming service Tubi represents a third of all streaming usage during the Super Bowl broadcast and multiplies its audience to nearly 16 times its January 2025 average. Viewers watching Tubi during the Super Bowl are 38% more likely to be in the 18-34 demographic than the total game average and skew slightly female.

Overall, Tubi’s February usage increased 17% over January to finish with 2.0% of total TV watch time, its largest share since July 2024.

Long-Term Growth Trajectory

A longer-term analysis of YouTube’s performance shows that time spent watching the platform on television increased by 53% compared to February 2023. During this two-year period, YouTube’s share of TV grew from 7.9% to 11.6%, according to Nielsen’s The Gauge™ reports.

Nielsen notes that YouTube usage reported in The Gauge excludes viewing on YouTubeTV.