Today’s TV landscape offers more than a lifetime’s worth of choice for audiences. US TV audiences can now find content on more than 32,200 linear channels and connected TV (CTV) gives audiences access to anything the internet has to offer.

The explosion of choice, however, has not inspired an equal increase in total TV usage. It has simply caused audiences to view content across a wider range of sources. The average US adult spends about 32 hours each week with TV during warmer months and an additional two to three hours per week when the weather gets colder, according to Nielsen data. While total TV usage is only up slightly overall, the portion dedicated to content accessed via CTV continues to grow.

Nielsen found that in 2023 alone, US audiences 18 years and older increased the time they spent with content they access through their connected devices by more than 20% to account for just under 40% of total TV usage. Among younger audiences, CTV usage is far more dominant: 80.2% among 12–17-year-olds; 73.6% among 21–34-year-olds; and 56.8% among 25–54-year-olds.

The increasing engagement is directly connected with growing access. Today, CTV devices reach 75% of people ages two and older, according to Nielsen’s Q2 2023 National TV Panel. That’s up from just 58% at the start of 2020. The penetration of smart TVs, which often come with pre-installed apps that provide direct access to streaming content, is also nearing ubiquity: More than 70% homes now own a smart TV.

While connectivity opens the doors to any content the internet has to offer, streaming video is the leading driver behind the growing adoption of CTV devices. Those devices provide audiences with access to far more content than what’s available on traditional, linear TV channels. As of October 2023, streaming services were home to just over 85% of the more than 1.1 million unique video titles available to US audiences, per Nielsen. That’s up from approximately 656,000 titles at the start of 2020.

That depth of variety, coupled with the expanding streaming landscape and the on-demand nature of many streaming services, has given streaming the edge with respect to TV usage. When Nielsen launched The Gauge in May 2021, only five streaming services accounted for more than 1% of total TV usage. In November 2023, 11 services were individually reported in The Gauge.

In addition to streaming’s dominant share of TV, time spent with streaming video highlights the gravitational pull of available content. For context, Nielsen found that US audiences spent just under 15 billion hours watching the top 10 most-watched original, acquired under a license, and movie titles during the week of November 13, 2023.

Wide CTV adoption, device proliferation, new acronyms and an abundance of streaming services have added to the complexity of media planning by obfuscating the actual behavior. Virtual multichannel video programming distributors, for example, have become popular alternatives to traditional cable packages, growing to account for a record high 5.7% of total TV usage in September 2023, per Nielsen. But media planning is contingent on what’s being watched, not how content is accessed.

On the surface, the fragmented nature of where content comes from can present itself as a significant media planning challenge. But when advertisers and agencies hone their focus to understanding time spent with broadcast, cable and streaming TV content, they have the foundational data they need for effective and efficient media planning.

For more media planning insights, download Nielsen’s “The Next Frontier: Your Guide to the 2024–2025 Upfronts NewFronts Planning Season.”