The first quarter of the month was hard on Netflix. After all, it lost 200,000 subscribers. It made headlines for a slowing growth after nearly a decade. This prompted industry gurus to take a hard look at Netflix’s abysmal situation and conclude that it’s losing the streaming game to its competitors. But is it really the case? Indeed it’s true that the company has laid off 150 employees and paused several productions to cut down costs. However, recent Nielsen reports tell a different story. With 1.33 trillion minutes of viewing time, the streamer raced ahead of the four major TV broadcasters and competing streaming platforms. 

Is Netflix still owning the throne in the streaming war?

Nielsen data of Sept 2021 to May 2022 TV season revealed the staggering amount of eyeballs that were glued to the TV screens. Netflix holds the #1 spot for drawing the most amount of eyeballs. Its vast catalog and originals are one of the reasons behind these figures.  No other streamers could beat the primetime TV channels! 

Right behind the streamer is CBS. It acquired a total of 752.8 billion viewing minutes. The TV network has a very solid daytime presence. The Late Show With Stephen Colbert is the most popular nighttime show on the channel – it accrued 22.5 billion minutes. CBS’s shows like NCIS, FBI, Blue Bloods, FBI: Most Wanted, and NCIS’ Hawai’i beat Netflix’s Ozark, Squid Game, Inventing Anna, You, and The Witcher. 

NBC follows CBS and right behind NBC are ABC  and Fox. Disney+, Prime Video, Hulu, and Apple TV + all rank in the sixth, seventh and ninth positions respectively. Apple + is far behind due to its small library however, it recently struck gold with Severance. Therefore, the numbers may differ in the next TV season.

1. Netflix, 1.334 trillion minutes viewed
2. CBS, 752.8 billion
3. NBC, 596.7 billion
4. ABC, 471.9 billion
5. Fox, 323.1 billion
6. Disney+, 245.4 billion
7. Prime Video, 173.7 billion
8. Hulu, 128.1 billion
9. Apple TV+, 21.7 billion

All in all, the TV viewing time stands at 4 trillion minutes! The streamers account for 15% of it, while broadcasters account for 35% of it.