Source: Nielsen, May 2026 Media Distributor Gauge.
For the last few years, the competition in streaming services has been between Netflix, Disney+, Max and Paramount+. But recent Nielsen stats show that there is a bigger story about how people consume their media which is YouTube’s growing importance.
As of May 2026, streaming made up 48.6% of total viewing time in the US, an increase of one point versus April. During that same month, YouTube took 13.8% of viewing time versus only 8.0% for Netflix, 4.9% for Disney+ and 4.5% for Prime.
Source: Nielsen, Chart by author.
YouTube's share of 13.8% is not an isolated incident, as its share has been growing steadily throughout the past year. In May 2025, it was at 12.5%, remaining at 12.5% in January 2026, before rising to 13.4% in April and then reaching 13.8% in May. In simple terms, YouTube's share is now up by 1.3 percentage points since May 2025.
Interestingly, what is happening on YouTube is that they do not need to spend a lot of money to create expensive programming like traditional streaming providers. Instead, YouTube relies on content from creators, podcasts and live streaming, as well as gaming and news content. Disney, on the other hand, is considering moving away from a subscription-only approach According to CEO Josh D'Amaro, the company is in the process of exploring a free ad-supported Disney+ service, but nothing has yet been finalised.
This is the most interesting part of the streaming story: traditional media has spent years trying to turn television into streaming, while YouTube has turned internet video into television.
Sources:
Nielsen 2026 Gauge
Nielsen May 2025 Gauge
The Verge: Disney+ free tier
