Streaming Has Officially Swallowed Television: Samba Report

Streaming now accounts for 60% of all US television viewing, officially surpassing linear TV as the nation’s primary way to watch, according to a new Samba TV report first covered by Advanced Television. The massive 46% year-over-year growth in streaming hours marks a fundamental and likely irreversible change in American media consumption.

• Your schedule, your shows: Appointment viewing is officially dead. When shows like Alien: Earth and The Last of Us are available on both linear and streaming, over 90% of the audience chooses to watch on-demand. Across all content, streaming now commands two-thirds of the viewership, confirming that audiences have decisively prioritized their own schedules over the broadcaster’s clock.

• The price is right: The migration to streaming is largely fueled by cheaper, ad-supported plans, now chosen by more than half of all SVOD subscribers. With adoption rates on services like Prime Video soaring toward 80%, the average US household can now afford to juggle about three different streaming services.

• The last strongholds fall: With the audience captured, platforms are conquering linear TV’s last domains—live sports and blockbuster movies. Major events like Thursday Night Football are now streaming exclusives, while movies debuting directly on streaming see eight times the household viewership of their video-on-demand releases.

The old broadcast model, built on fixed schedules and premium VOD windows, has been completely dismantled. Viewer loyalty now belongs to the platforms that offer maximum choice and convenience, not the channels that dictate the terms.

The global TV and video market is on track to become a $1 trillion business by 2030. Meanwhile, a major discrepancy in advertising remains, with ad spend on streaming still lagging behind the explosion in viewer attention.