Streaming surpasses linear TV, now accounts for 60% of total viewing

Streaming has overtaken linear television as the dominant way Americans consume TV content, according to Samba TV’s 2025 “U.S. State of Streaming” report released Oct. 30.

The report states that 60% of all television viewing time in the United States now occurs on streaming platforms.

The report, based on Samba TV’s analysis of more than 400 billion monthly TV signals, shows a 46% year-over-year increase in streaming time. Viewer behavior continues to shift toward on-demand content, driven by interest in cultural events, genre-based programming and increased use of ad-supported subscriptions.

When content is available on both streaming and linear platforms, 67% of viewers choose streaming. For recent original programs including “Alien: Earth”, “White Lotus” and “The Last of Us”, the share exceeds 90%.

Samba TV CEO and Co-founder Ashwin Navin said in a statement that the shift represents a fundamental change in how audiences engage with television.

“As live sports, films and cultural moments have moved to streaming, publishers and advertisers have a critical opportunity to reach audiences with precision and purpose,” Navin said.

The report identifies several key trends:

• Streaming as appointment viewing: Even for day-of-release titles, audiences prefer streaming over scheduled linear broadcasts.
• Ad-supported adoption: More than half of subscribers on major services use ad-supported tiers. Prime Video leads with 78% of users on ad-supported plans, followed by Hulu at 62%. U.S. households now subscribe to an average of 3.2 services.
• Live sports expansion: Prime Video’s “Thursday Night Football”, Netflix’s upcoming “WWE Raw” and Formula 1 coverage on Apple TV reflect growing investment in live sports rights.
• Platform strategy over volume: While Netflix accounts for 51% of top streaming originals by volume, Apple TV and HBO Max lead in award recognition. Disney+ maintains a strong audience among Hispanic households through franchise content and diverse representation.
• Franchise IP drives engagement: Films such as “Happy Gilmore 2” and “Den of Thieves 2: Pantera” performed strongly, but the original title “KPop Demon Hunters” also placed in the top five through repeat viewing and community engagement.
• Streaming outperforms VOD: Movies released directly on streaming platforms reached eight times the audience of their VOD counterparts. For example, “Kraven: The Hunter” saw a 947% viewership increase on Netflix, while “Moana 2” on Disney+ experienced a 651% rise over its VOD performance.

The findings suggest evolving priorities for advertisers and content producers, as streaming becomes the central platform for both traditional and emerging forms of programming.

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