A new study from Horowitz Research highlights the growing importance of streaming, with 2025 survey data showing that 61% of weekly TV content viewing occurs on streaming platforms, up from 45% in 2024 and 38% in 2020.
In contrast, only 35% of the weekly TV content viewing takes place on traditional MVPDs or via live over-the-air broadcasts. That is down from 44% in 2024, 58% in 2020 and 70% in 2015, when streaming accounted for only 23% of weekly TV content viewing.
The new “State Of Media, Entertainment, And Tech Volume II: Viewing Behaviors, 2025 Edition” also highlights the importance of live viewing and the growing role that streaming is playing in how people watch live content.
The survey found that 85% of viewers watch at least some live content and that streaming dominates those habits. About 40% of those surveyed said they used FAST services to watch live content, more than the 36% who said they used cable or satellite services to watch live content. A growing number, 33%, use SVOD services to watch live content as services like Netflix and Max expand their sports programming.
YouTube was the fourth most popular way to view live content (19% of viewers said they used it for live programming), followed by vMVPDs like Sling TV (16%) and TV antennas for over-the-air broadcast (11%).
Among the streaming services, however, SVOD still accounted for the largest share of the TV content viewing. SVOD held a 59% share of time spent with streaming content, followed by FAST (27%), vMVPDs (5%) and TV everywhere services (1%).
Streaming plays a larger share in the viewing habits of younger viewers, with those 18 to 34 spending 75% of their weekly TV content viewings on streaming platforms, followed by people aged 35-49 (67%) and people who are 50 or older (48%).
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White, non-Latinx, viewers also stream less than the general population with 58% of their weekly TV content viewing taking place on streaming, while Blacks spend 61%, Asians spend 70% and Latinx spend 65% of their weekly TV content viewing on streaming platforms.
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