Disney Captures 11.9% of TV in January, Boosted by ESPN’s (+82%) College Football Playoff Coverage, Plus Upticks on ABC Affiliates (+10%)
YouTube Leads with 12.5% of TV, Netflix Maintains No. 3 Rank with 8.8%
NEW YORK – February 24, 2026 – In a month where television viewing reached a 12-month high, Disney captured the largest month-over-month gain in Nielsen’s January 2026 Media Distributor Gauge report, a monthly view of total TV consumption aggregated by parent company. Disney added 1.2 share points and finished with 11.9% of total television viewing in January, nearly tying its Media Distributor Gauge best (12.0% in January 2025), and bringing it within 0.6 share points of YouTube’s 12.5% lead.
Disney’s momentum was primarily fueled by ESPN’s coverage of the College Football Playoffs and Championship games, which drove an 82% monthly viewing increase on the network and contributed nearly a full share point to Disney’s total. Disney also got a boost from its ABC affiliates, with viewing up 10% among them on the strength of multiple NFL games, the Citrus Bowl, the return of broadcast dramas, and seasonal staples like New Year’s Rockin’ Eve and The Rose Bowl Parade. ABC’s High Potential and ABC World News Tonight were notably the top broadcast programs in each of their respective genres in January.
Netflix represented 8.8% of TV usage in January and maintained the No. 3 rank among distributors. Netflix’s overall usage was up slightly in January (+1%), and its original series Stranger Things claimed the top streaming program for a second consecutive month.
NFL games carried on NBC, plus simulcasts on Peacock, were a key factor in the 5% overall increase to NBCU-Versant* this month. Peacock also benefited from a new season of its original series The Traitors. Additionally, Telemundo affiliates saw a 13% jump in viewership powered by the sports reality hit Exatlón, bringing the network’s monthly share contribution to 0.7 points. Overall, NBCU-Versant represented 8.5% of TV viewership in January (+0.3 points vs. December).
FOX climbed to 7.4% of TV viewership in January (+0.4 points). This growth was largely underpinned by a 17% jump in viewing on FOX News Channel, which accounted for more than half (+0.25 points) of FOX’s monthly share increase.
Led by increases on FYI (+46%) and Lifetime (+14%), A&E’s combined viewership climbed 8% in January (+0.1 point) and moved up one slot in the distributor rankings.
* Note: While Versant formally completed its spin-off of NBCUniversal cable networks in early January, advertising sales for both entities have been retained by NBCU. For this reason, and to preserve data trends and insights in these reports, NBCU and Versant will be reported together in the Media Distributor Gauge. However, to further acknowledge the change, the companies’ respective shares will be included in the Media Distributor Gauge chart.
The January 2026 interval spanned four weeks, from 12/29/2025 through 01/25/2026. Nielsen reporting follows the broadcast calendar, with weekly intervals beginning on Monday.
About The Gauge™
The Gauge™ is Nielsen’s monthly snapshot of total broadcast, cable and streaming consumption that occurs through a television screen, providing the industry with a holistic look at what audiences are watching. The Gauge was expanded in April 2024 to include The Media Distributor Gauge, which reflects total viewing by media distributor across these categories. Read more about The Gauge methodology and FAQs.
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