TLDR Tech / Marketing
Nielsen: Sports continues to prop up ad-supported TV
Sports remain the main driver of ad-supported TV. It accounted for nearly 30% of total viewership in Q4 2025, compared with 9.8% for broadcast TV without sports and 18% for non-sport cable. Audiences 18-49 rely heavily on ad-supported sources, with 66.7% of that viewing coming from streaming platforms, mostly on YouTube, Hulu, and Amazon Prime. Live events like the Super Bowl LX, which drew 125.6M viewers, and expanded MLB sponsorships show sports continue to deliver a large and commercially valuable audience.
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