Disney Regains TV Distributor Crown as Football Lifts Several Media Giants

Disney Regains TV Distributor Crown as Football Lifts Several Media Giants

As a die-hard sports enthusiast who grew up with the flicker of the old CRT TV screen lighting up our living room during Sunday NFL games and college football Saturdays, I can’t help but feel a surge of nostalgia every time I see Disney dominating the Nielsen TV distributor rankings. The start of the football season is like a beacon, drawing me back to those halcyon days of camaraderie, strategy discussions, and the thrill of the game.


In September, the commencement of the football season proved beneficial for numerous media organizations, with Disney reclaiming the top position in Nielsen’s television distributor rankings once more.

During Nielsen’s measurement period from August 26th to September 29th, Disney channels made up approximately 11.3% of all television viewing in the United States. This is an increase from 9.5% in August and marks the ninth time that Disney has taken the top spot in TV distribution for the eleven months that Nielsen has been releasing such data.

ESPN, ESPN2, and ABC saw significant increases in television viewership during September compared to August. This surge can be attributed to the kickoff of college football and NFL seasons for ESPN and ESPN2, while ABC benefited from a 25% boost. Other media partners specializing in NFL and college football also experienced growth month over month: Paramount (8.2%) saw an increase of 0.8 percentage points, Fox (7.3%) added more than one point to its August total, and Amazon (3.7%) grew by half a point.

In September, NBCUniversal moved down from first to third place in TV usage, accounting for 9.3% of total viewing time, which aligns with its typical non-Olympic month performance. YouTube maintained its second position with a 10.6% share of TV use. The top 14 distributors in the U.S., collectively, made up approximately 73% of all TV viewership during this period, much like in previous months.

Nielsen’s TV distributor rankings for September are below.

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2024-10-22 15:24