September 2025 delivered a powerful, and perhaps surprising, reminder of the enduring strength of broadcast viewership—specifically, the unmatched power of live sports, according to Nielsen.
While the story of the past few years has been the inexorable rise of streaming, September’s viewing habits threw a major spotlight back onto old-school programming, leaving marketers to ponder: Did the football surge prove that Broadcast still reigns supreme, or are advertisers simply resorting to traditional channels because they feel they lack access to buy premium CTV inventory directly from streamers?
Let’s break down the data, the tension, and the reality of Connected TV buying today.
The September Surge: A Deep Dive into Nielsen Data
The latest viewing data confirms streaming’s overall dominance, but with a massive asterisk.
As of September 2025, Streaming still holds the largest share of overall viewing at 45.2%. Broadcast and Cable remain neck-and-neck, each holding a 22.3% share.
However, the major narrative was the sheer volume of change:
- Broadcast TV viewing rose 20% from August to September, marking the largest month-to-month increase since Nielsen’s The Gauge launched in 2021.
- This surge was almost entirely driven by the start of the NFL season, with games on Fox, CBS, and NBC landing in the top 15 broadcast TV ratings slots, and games on ESPN and the NFL Network dominating the top five cable telecasts.
Despite the temporary Broadcast bump, the sheer volume of viewing time remains concentrated in streaming platforms: YouTube (12.6%), Netflix (8.3%), Disney (4.5%), and Prime Video (3.9%) alone account for over 29% of all TV consumption.
The Core Tension: Access vs. Preference
The question for every brand buyer is whether this rush back to Broadcast is a strategic preference for guaranteed live scale, or an admission that buying the fragmented, premium streaming landscape is simply too difficult.
Many buyers still operate under the myth that to buy inventory on platforms like Netflix, Disney+, or Peacock, they need to strike individual, complex direct deals, making it simpler to default to a traditional linear TV buy for big-tent moments like football.
The reality, however, is that this “lack of access” is a programmatic myth.
The Solution: Programmatic Access to Nearly All Premium CTV
The good news for marketers is that the fragmentation of content viewing is not matched by the fragmentation of inventory buying. Today, all the major streaming players—and therefore the vast majority of the 45.2% streaming share—are accessible through Demand-Side Platforms (DSPs) like DV360 (Display & Video 360).
In fact, of the nine major streaming channels and platforms listed in the September data, almost all are typically available to target through DV360’s Connected TV (CTV) inventory via a combination of open exchange bidding, exchange partnerships, and curated deals:
| Streaming Service | September Share | DV360 Accessibility |
|---|---|---|
| YouTube | 12.6% | Yes (Native Inventory, YouTube Instant Deals) |
| Netflix | 8.3% | Yes (Programmatic Guaranteed/PMP Deals) |
| Disney* (incl. Hulu, Disney+, ESPN+) | 4.5% | Yes (DRAX, Programmatic Exchanges, PG/PMP Deals) |
| Prime Video | 3.9% | No (Specific to Amazon) |
| Roku Channel | 2.8% | Yes (Programmatic Exchanges and PG/PMP Deals) |
| Tubi | 2.1% | Yes (Programmatic Exchanges and PG/PMP Deals) |
| Paramount* (incl. Paramount+, Pluto) | 2.0% | Yes (Programmatic Exchanges and PG/PMP Deals) |
| Peacock | 1.4% | Yes (Programmatic Exchanges and PG/PMP Deals) |
| Warner Bros. Discovery* (incl. HBO Max, Discovery+) | 1.3% | Yes (Programmatic Exchanges and PG/PMP Deals) |
You no longer need to be afraid of the “unreachable streamer.” The industry has matured, providing centralized access to premium video and allowing for unified campaign management, audience targeting, and, crucially, cross-platform frequency capping across almost the entire CTV ecosystem.
The Best Strategy is Unified
The September 2025 viewing data is a lesson in balance:
For sheer overall viewing time and advanced audience targeting, Streaming (45.2%) is the core foundation of any video strategy.
For massive, instantaneous reach around cultural moments like the NFL kickoff, Broadcast is an essential spike channel however DV360 / YouTube and Amazon DSP are making quick inroads into the live sports segments – perhaps the last stronghold of traditional TV. However if you plan is to use your advance audiences start planning for the rest of the Football Season on DV360 with:
- YouTube TV has NFL and CFB (cable alternative)
- Netflix airs Christmas Day NFL
- Disney (ESPN) has a ton of NFL and College Football
Tubi may have some live NFL (owned by Fox) - Paramount Plus definitely has lots of NFL
- Peacock has lots of NFL
- HBO Max has college football not NFL
The real takeaway for marketers is that you don’t have to choose between the two. By leveraging a modern programmatic platform like DV360, you can secure the necessary live reach via Broadcast, while also ensuring that your brand message is delivered to the right viewers across the other 45% of their viewing time—efficiently, scalably, and with the targeting precision that only CTV can offer.
Contact our experts today to discuss options for optimizing your ad performance.
