Latest news with #TheGauge
Miami Herald
3 days ago
- Sport
- Miami Herald
NBA Finals drive ABC ratings rebound
The NBA Finals going the full seven games provided a significant boost for ABC, which saw its sports viewership increased 17 percent in June compared to May, according Nielsen's monthly report 'The Gauge.' After the first few games of the series between Indiana and Oklahoma City generated poor ratings, they improved significantly as the series grew more dramatic. That included an average of 16.35 million viewers for Game 7, making it the largest audience for an NBA Finals game in six years. Overall, ratings for the series still lagged behind those of recent years while averaging 10.27 million viewers. That is compared to an average of 12.4 million viewers for Golden State's six-game series win over Boston in 2022, 11.64 million for Denver's five-game win over Miami in 2023 and 11.31 million for Boston's five-game title run past Dallas last year. However, the 2025 NBA Finals on ABC represented the top seven telecasts of the month for broadcast. Along with the NBA Trophy Presentation, ABC took each of the top 12 telecasts in June. Meanwhile, the conference finals on ESPN and TNT ranked as the top two cable telecasts of the month. Field Level Media 2023 - All Rights Reserved
Time of India
30-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
New script unfolds in media world
Warner Bros Discovery 's decision to split into two separate entities, just three years after its headline-grabbing merger, reflects a broader dismantling of the old media conglomerate model where everything from streaming to cable to studios was bundled under one roof. With streaming now the primary growth engine, companies are under pressure to separate their fast-growing digital verticals from slower legacy businesses such as linear TV , cable news, and broadcast, industry experts said. The idea is to create leaner, more focused businesses that can compete more effectively in the crowded streaming space, be valued independently, and attract sharper investor interest, after years of eroding valuations. 'Given the rise of OTT platforms and the market dominance of Netflix, studios are being forced to rethink,' said Vivek Menon, managing partner at NV Capital, a debt fund focused on media and entertainment (M&E) industry. 'They're separating high-growth content and digital units from cable and traditional operations that are seeing only low-single-digit growth. Netflix's valuation is setting the benchmark and everyone else is chasing it.' The move by Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) to split its operations mirrors steps taken by other media giants like Comcast and Lionsgate . In late 2024, Comcast spun off NBCUniversal cable networks, including CNBC, MSNBC, and SYFY into a separate public entity called Versant. Lionsgate followed suit in May by separating its Studio and Starz units. Analysts see these breakups as a response to the slow breakdown of linear TV economics and the rise of streaming as the dominant consumption mode. According to Nielsen's The Gauge report, streaming overtook the combined share of cable and broadcast in May 2025, accounting for 44.8% of total TV usage in the US. WBD's restructuring will create two standalone companies: one focused on streaming and studio operations including HBO Max , HBO, Warner Bros Pictures, and DC Studios; and another housing traditional networks like CNN, Discovery, and Cartoon Network. CEO David Zaslav will lead the streaming-first unit, while the bulk of WBD's $37 billion debt will sit with the legacy cable business. To support the realignment, WBD has secured a $17.5-billion bridge loan and plans to buy back up to $14.6 billion in debt. The cable unit, Global Linear Networks (GLN), will hold a 20 percent stake in the streaming entity, which can be monetised later. 'WBD's linear struggles aren't unique,' said Paul Erickson, principal analyst at technology research and advisory group Omdia. 'Comcast and Lionsgate have done similar splits to create operational clarity and increase appeal for future deals or capital raises.' Morgan Stanley called the WBD move long overdue. It valued the streaming and studios business at over $40 billion, using a 12x EV/Ebitda multiple, while GLN was assigned a 5x multiple and projected to carry negative equity due to its debt burden, even after factoring in its 20% stake in the digital business. WBD has been cautious about its moves in India. After shelving plans to launch HBO Max as a standalone service, the company chose to license HBO content to what is now JioHotstar.
Time of India
29-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
New Script for Media: Warner Bros Discovery split marks end of bundling era
Mumbai: Warner Bros Discovery 's decision to split into two separate entities, just three years after its headline-grabbing merger, reflects a broader dismantling of the old media conglomerate model where everything from streaming to cable to studios was bundled under one roof. With streaming now the primary growth engine, companies are under pressure to separate their fast-growing digital verticals from slower legacy businesses such as linear TV , cable news, and broadcast, industry experts said. The idea is to create leaner, more focused businesses that can compete more effectively in the crowded streaming space, be valued independently, and attract sharper investor interest, after years of eroding valuations. "Given the rise of OTT platforms and the market dominance of Netflix, studios are being forced to rethink," said Vivek Menon, managing partner at NV Capital, a debt fund focused on media and entertainment (M&E) industry. "They're separating high-growth content and digital units from cable and traditional operations that are seeing only low-single-digit growth. Netflix's valuation is setting the benchmark and everyone else is chasing it." The move by Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) to split its operations mirrors steps taken by other media giants like Comcast and Lionsgate. Live Events In late 2024, Comcast spun off NBCUniversal cable networks, including CNBC, MSNBC, and SYFY into a separate public entity called Versant. Lionsgate followed suit in May by separating its Studio and Starz units. Analysts see the breakups as a response to slow breakdown of linear TV economics and rise of streaming as dominant consumption mode. According to Nielsen 's The Gauge report, streaming overtook the combined share of cable and broadcast in May 2025, accounting for 44.8% of total TV usage in the US. WBD's restructuring will create two standalone companies: one focused on streaming and studio operations including HBO Max , HBO, Warner Bros Pictures, and DC Studios; and another housing traditional networks like CNN, Discovery, and Cartoon Network. CEO David Zaslav will lead the streaming-first unit, while the bulk of WBD's $37 billion debt will sit with the legacy cable business. To support the realignment, WBD has secured a $17.5-billion bridge loan and plans to buy back up to $14.6 billion in debt. The cable unit, Global Linear Networks (GLN), will hold a 20 percent stake in the streaming entity, which can be monetised later. "WBD's linear struggles aren't unique," said Paul Erickson, principal analyst at technology research and advisory group Omdia. "Comcast and Lionsgate have done similar splits to create operational clarity and increase appeal for future deals or capital raises." Morgan Stanley called the WBD move long overdue. It valued the streaming and studios business at over $40 billion, using a 12x EV/Ebitda multiple, while GLN was assigned a 5x multiple and projected to carry negative equity due to its debt burden, even after factoring in its 20% stake in the digital business. WBD has been cautious about its moves in India. After shelving plans to launch HBO Max as a standalone service, the company chose to license HBO content to what is now JioHotstar. Discovery+ remains WBD's primary digital platform in India. "India remains important, but expansion will be evaluated closely to ensure return on investment," Omdia's Erickson said. "Discovery+ will likely be the face of WBD in India for the foreseeable future." He said WBD's content bets will now become "more deliberate."
Indian Express
23-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Streaming dominates at 45% viewership in US, beating cable and broadcast
In a historic first, streaming has surpassed both cable and broadcast television combined in total TV usage in the US, according to media audience measurement firm Nielsen's latest Gauge report. Streaming accounted for 44.8 per cent of all television viewing, surpassing the combined share of cable (24.1 per cent) and broadcast (20.1 per cent). It marks a significant shift in how audiences not just in the US, but around the world, consume content. Notably, in Nielsen's first Gauge report launched in May 2021, streaming made up just 26 per cent of total TV usage. In the four years since, its share has surged by 71 per cent, while cable's share has declined by 39 per cent, and broadcast has dropped by 21 per cent. The remainder of viewing habits including gaming, physical media, and some on-demand viewing, remain stable, as per the report. Leading the charge are YouTube and Netflix, which accounted for a combined 20 per cent of all TV use in May this year, nearly matching the total viewership of all broadcast networks. YouTube reached an all-time high of 12.5 per cent viewership, its fourth consecutive monthly record. Among FAST (free ad-supported TV) platforms, Roku Channel, Tubi, and Pluto TV collectively made up 5.7 per cent of TV use. Tubi and Roku together contributed 4.7 per cent while Pluto TV – whose data is included under parent company Paramount's 2.2 per cent share – is estimated at around one per cent. The most streamed show of the month was Netflix's You, which logged four billion minutes of viewing time, signalling the growing dominance of on-demand TV content in viewers' watching habits. The data points to a rapidly changing entertainment landscape. 'It's fitting that this inflection point coincides with the four-year anniversary of Nielsen's The Gauge, which has become the gold standard for streaming TV measurement,' said Karthik Rao, CEO of Nielsen, in a statement. 'It's also a credit to media companies who have deftly adapted their programming strategies to meet their viewers where they are watching,' Rao added. With more viewers shifting towards digital platforms, media companies are rethinking content distribution, investing heavily in streaming-first originals and ad-supported platforms that appeal to 'cord-cutters', that is, people who cancel their subscriptions to cable or broadcast TV channels in favour of content available online. (This article has been curated by Arfan Jeelany, who is an intern with The Indian Express)
Economic Times
20-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Economic Times
YouTube Shorts has hit 200 billion daily views: CEO Neal Mohan
Live Events YouTube has crossed a major milestone with its short video feature, YouTube Shorts , now getting around 200 billion views every day, according to CEO Neal Mohan . He shared the update during his keynote address at the 2025 Cannes Lions marks a huge jump from last year, when YouTube reported (March 2024) that Shorts was averaging about 70 billion daily views. Viewership has gone up by nearly 186% in just a also revealed that people are now watching more than 1 billion hours of YouTube on their TVs every day. In May, YouTube topped Nielsen's The Gauge report for the fourth month in a row, making it the most-watched streaming platform in the platform made up 12.5% of all TV viewership, the largest share ever recorded by The Gauge across any streaming service or channel.'For more than half of the top 100 most-watched YouTube channels in the world, TV is their most-watched screen,' Mohan Shorts continues to grow in popularity, YouTube is adding more tools to help creators. Mohan announced that Veo 3, the latest version of Google DeepMind's video generation model, will be launching on the platform later this AI tool helps users create video clips and backgrounds for Shorts. The earlier Dream Screen feature used an older version of Veo, but Veo 3 will bring sharper visuals and the ability to add audio, giving creators more ways to bring their ideas to life.
