As of March 2021, most of U.S. Americans watched live TV 12 or more hours per week recently, with a share of 26 percent of respondents to a survey. Eight percent stated to have been spending less than one hour consuming live television content and 14 percent of people interviewed do not watch live TV at all.

Why would people watch less live TV?

Although watching television has always been among the most popular media activities in the world, with the advent of the streaming market and its increasing popularity, the appeal of live TV is waning. Paying for movie and TV streaming services is becoming more commonplace, and companies like Netflix offer a wealth of content which live TV cannot always match. However, paid streaming services are not live television’s only competitor.
Content offering Online video market leader YouTube allows viewers to enjoy not only music videos but entire movies, recordings of older shows, and an incredible amount of user-generated content unlikely ever to make it to traditional television. Meanwhile, the kind of content that live TV can deliver which is totally unique is dwindling, and gradually becoming limited to talk shows, reality TV, and news programs. As streaming services grow even more sophisticated in terms of what they offer and how they do it, it is possible that live TV viewing will be left behind whilst audiences pursue online content they can watch on the go, on their mobile, and at the click of a button.

“NFL Sunday Night Football” was the most watched TV show in the United States in the 2023/2024 season, with roughly 19.8 million viewers. “NFL Monday Night Football” ranked second with approximately 12 million viewers. NFL sports broadcasts score high with viewers Football matches and other live sports events have always attracted impressive audiences in the United States, and this popularity also extends to their television broadcasts. In 2023, the Super Bowl LVII was the top primetime telecast in the U.S., drawing nearly 115 million viewers to their screens. Furthermore, none of the 10 most successful primetime programs were not football-related, explaining why 30-second advertising slots during the Super Bowl cost an average of seven million U.S. dollars. Most popular TV networks NBC was the leading ad-supported television network in the United States, with an average viewership of around 4.54 million viewers in 2023. One of its most popular shows during the 2023/2024 season included “Chicago Fire,” a drama that has been on the air for many years. The only other network to surpass four million viewers in 2023 was CBS, which aired “NCIS” as one of its most successful fictional series.

The 2025 edition of the Super Bowl, which saw the Philadelphia Eagles emerge victorious against the Kansas City Chiefs was watched by 127.7 million viewers in the United States, making it not only the most watched Super Bowl in history, but also the most popular TV program of all time in the U.S. The second most watched Super Bowl was aired in the previous year, when the Kansas City Chiefs won against the San Francisco 49ers. What is the Super Bowl? The Super Bowl is the last game of the NFL season with the winners of the two football conferences, the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC), competing with each other. The game determines the champion of the National Football League. The first Super Bowl was played on January 15, 1967, following the 1966 football season. In that game, the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League defeated the Kansas City Chiefs, then of the American Football League, with a score of 35 to 10, winning the first-ever Super Bowl championship. Super Bowl giants The Super Bowl came into being as part of a merger agreement between the two rival football leagues (National Football League and the American Football League) at the time. From 1967 to 1970, the game pitted the champions of the two rival leagues against each other. Since 1971 and the completion of the merger agreement, the winners of the two conferences have squared off against each other. The Pittsburgh Steelers and the New England Patriots have won the most Super Bowl titles, with a total of six each. The Patriots have also appeared in the National Football League’s annual championship game a record 11 times, thereby topping the list for Super Bowl appearances.

According to the most recent data, U.S. viewers aged 15 years and older spent on average almost three hours watching TV per day in 2023. Adults aged 65 and above spent the most time watching television at over four hours, whilst 15 to 19-year-olds watched TV for less than two hours each day. The dynamic TV landscape The way people consume video entertainment platforms has significantly changed in the past decade, with a forecast suggesting that the time spent watching traditional TV in the U.S. will probably decline in the years ahead, while digital video will gain in popularity. Younger age groups in particular tend to cut the cord and subscribe to video streaming services, such as Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video. TV advertising in a transition period Similarly, the TV advertising market made a development away from traditional linear TV towards online media. While the ad spending on traditional TV in the U.S. generally increased until the end of the 2010s, this value is projected to decline to below 60 billion U.S. dollars in the next few years. By contrast, investments in connected TV advertising are expected to steadily grow, despite the amount being just over half of the traditional TV ad spend by 2025.

The NFL is one of the most widely televised sporting leagues in the world. The average television viewership of a regular season NFL game in 2024 was calculated to be 17.5 million. Attendance In addition to this record-breaking TV viewership, the NFL attracts thousands of fans to the stadiums each week to see their favorite teams in action. The NFL has consistently been the major American sports league with the highest average attendance, with an average of almost 70 thousand people attending each game in the 2023 season. Moreover, during the 2024 regular season, the average total home attendance per team across the entire NFL was calculated to be 588,088. The franchise with the highest total attendance for its eight regular-season home games was the Dallas Cowboys, perhaps in part to their comparatively reasonably priced tickets, costing nearly 117 U.S. dollars on average, just less than the average ticket price across the NFL at 120 U.S. dollars per ticket. Best players Since 1957, the Associated Press NFL Most Valuable Player Award has been given to the NFL player considered to have been the most outstanding during the season. Since the award's introduction, Peyton Manning has received the award the greatest number of times during his career, closely followed by Aaron Rodgers, who has received the award on four occasions. One other potential indicator of the success of an NFL player is their annual salary. The highest-paid NFL player in 2024 was Dak Prescott, quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys, who earned 86.3 million U.S. dollars from salary and bonuses and 14 million U.S. dollars from endorsement deals during the 2024 season.

Consuming TV content is most common among older age groups in Sweden. In 2024, people aged 60 years and older in the country watched live television on average 220 minutes per day. By contrast, 3 to-14-year-olds' time spent amounted to 11 minutes on a daily basis.

According to a 2024 survey, the majority of U.S. viewers used a combination of both traditional TV and video streaming services, with 64 percent of respondents subscribing to those platforms. A further one in three people interviewed stated that they only used streaming services, while four percent only viewed content on traditional TV sources, such as pay TV and over-the-air TV.

According to estimates, there were 125 million TV homes in the United States for the 2023-2024 TV season. Whilst the number of TV households continues to grow, pay TV is becoming less popular – the pay TV penetration rate in the U.S. was pegged at 64 percent in 2023, marking a drop of over 10 percentage points in just five years. The changing TV landscape The trend of consumers (especially younger generations) cutting the cord and instead moving online to streaming services has meant that many pay TV providers have struggled to keep afloat. In spite of this, television statistics show that watching terrestrial TV is still a popular media activity among U.S. consumers. Television has been a popular pastime for so long that it seems impossible the medium could ever die out – but its traditional form is certainly changing. The advent of 3D and smart TV technology, as well as connected TV devices, mean that the ways in which we watch television are changing all the time. User demographics A key factor when considering television consumption in the United States is how a consumer’s age affects their viewing habits and preferences. As of 2022, the average daily time spent watching TV among adults aged 75 years and older amounted to nearly five hours. 20 to 24-year-olds spent just around two hours per day consuming TV content. Moreover, the share of cable TV subscribers was higher among older adults, with half of consumers aged 65 years and older subscribing to a cable TV service, compared to 34 percent of 18 to 34-year-olds at the beginning of 2023.

Television viewership in India measured an average minute audience (AMA) of approximately 1.5 trillion in 2023. It indicated a slight recovery from the declining trend that emerged post-pandemic, although remaining below viewership levels recorded in 2020. Despite the dip in viewership, television continued to be the country's largest medium, reaching over 200 million households. What is India watching? Of the one to two hours spent per day watching television, most Indians either sought entertainment in the form of their favorite TV series, or sports or tuned into the news of the day. The entertainment genre’s dominance within television consumption was quite evident in the abundance of general entertainment channels available to viewers in nearly all the major Indian vernacular languages. Comedies were a popular genre. Meanwhile, sports drew its viewers primarily from the vast population of cricket enthusiasts in the country, with Star Sports 1 Hindi being the most-watched television channel overall. The era of connected TV The Indian media and entertainment sector has been at the forefront of the digital revolution, being the first to adopt or adapt to innovative technologies. The television sector was no exception. With the irrevocable penetration of streaming and over-the-top services in the video content segment, an increasing number of Indian households are switching to connected televisions. Hybrid viewing has become the norm with viewers able to stream the latest web series and consume live television on the same device.

In 2023, the average time spent per individual watching broadcast television in the UK amounted to 158 minutes per day. Despite an initial short spike in viewing time in 2020, likely due to the onset of the global coronavirus pandemic, broadcast TV consumption declined each year since 2010. Older audiences tended to consume traditional TV more than their younger counterparts, with people aged 65 years and over watching TV more than five hours on a daily basis, compared to less than an hour among 16 to-24-year-olds. Internet-connected devices transform the TV market The television continues to be crucial to the UK’s media landscape, regardless of declining TV viewing time. The most recent data showed that the number of TV households in the region increased from 26.7 million in 2017 to more than 27 million in 2021, as smart TVs and connected TVs become the devices of choice. In 2022, the penetration rate of smart TV sets peaked in 2021 and 2022 at 67 percent. Alteration of consumer habits While traditional TV consumption has declined lately, online TV services provided by broadcasters have increased in popularity. The average daily viewing time of broadcaster video-on-demand (BVOD) in the UK doubled between 2018 and 2022. Additionally, online audiovisual revenues grew by nearly four billion British pounds during the same period, demonstrating the recent shift from linear TV towards online video alternatives.

During the past decade, the time spent watching TV in Sweden generally decreased, despite a small growth of two minutes from 2019 to 2020, probably due to the pandemic with people staying at home. However, since then the average daily TV time fell again to 98 minutes in 2024. According to the source, people aged 60 years and older watched live TV the most, at 220 minutes per day that year. For comparison, 15 to 24-year-olds' daily viewing time amounted to only 14 minutes.

An average of 1.56 million viewers tuned in to watch NBA regular season games across ABC, ESPN and TNT in the 2023/24 season. This marked a very slight decline in the number of viewers from the previous season.

What are the most-watched news networks? In November 2023, Fox News was the most watched cable news network in the United States and continues to do well in terms of its primetime audience, with 1.72 million primetime viewers in that period. Fox News viewers in the 25-54 demographic amounted to 199 thousand, whilst MSNBC had just 109 thousand. When looking at Fox News viewers compared to CNN, the overall average number of primetime viewers was notably different. CNN has been losing viewers in recent years, although during the coronavirus outbreak, tended to pull in a larger audience than usual. Which cable news channel has the most viewers in prime time? Performing well during the mid-evening prime time slot on cable television is the goal of any network that takes its ratings seriously.Cable news networks like Fox, CNN, and MSNBC are engaged in a monthly battle to hit the top spot during primetime and grab the highest cable news ratings during those precious evening hours. Fox News ratings during primetime are generally higher than its two direct competitors, and was the top channel for watching the State of the Union Address in 2020. What is prime time TV? Primetime television is the time at which the audience peaks, and in the United States usually takes place between 8pm and 11pm. TV networks show their most sought after or successful programs during this time, and this slot is where advertisers like to spend their money in order to maximize the number of viewers who will see their products. In fact, many of the most-watched news shows like Hannity or The Rachel Maddow Show which debate news coverage from a particular point of view, draw in massive audiences each month, ultimately contributing to the overall ratings of the network they belong to.

In 2024, 60.7 percent of American TV consumers spent three or more hours a day watching TV, while almost 47 percent spent one hour or more per day watching live TV. Traditional TV consumption declined in recent years, as more and more viewers opt for streaming services.

In 2025, around 19.7 million Americans watched the Academy Awards ceremony. Oscars viewership fluctuates year by year, however, the last time the ceremony drew in a U.S. audience of more than 40 million was back in 2014. The figure recorded in 2021 was the lowest yet, and marked a drop-off of over 50 percent from the 2020 audience. Coverage of the Academy Awards Viewership of awards ceremonies can depend on multiple factors, ranging from personal preferences to overall interest in nominees, as well as how much coverage is devoted to the ceremony before and during its broadcast. Interest in upcoming events in the media industry is often generated via social media, which can be extremely effective in generating discussions, interactions, and general awareness. In 2018, the Academy Awards were mentioned 2.5 million times on social media during the ceremony, and have also proved to be some of the most popular TV specials on Twitter in recent years. Conversely, a survey held in early 2019 revealed that 19 percent of U.S. adults had not come across any news coverage for the 2019 Academy Awards at all.

In 2025, 15.4 million Americans watched the Grammy Awards ceremony. This figure marked a decrease from the previous year, and represented the fourth-lowest TV audience since the 2000 ceremony. Throwback to the Grammys’ glory days The Grammy Awards have suffered viewer losses for the better part of a decade. The show's rankings last peaked in 2012, when an estimated 39 million people tuned in to watch Music's Biggest Night. After that, the format failed to draw the same impressive audience numbers as it did in the early 2010s. But what made the 54th annual Grammy Awards so special? For one, the event incorporated various musical tributes to Whitney Houston, who had died the day before the show. On top of that, the ceremony was hosted by LL Cool J, who was the first Grammys host in seven years. Spotlight on other awards ceremonies The Grammys are not the only awards ceremony that has lost viewers and relevance over the past decade. Even the Oscars, Hollywood's most prestigious celebration, have recently failed to draw television viewers' attention. In 2024, the number of Academy Awards viewers stood at 19.5 million, and even though this figure marked a significant improvement compared to the previous years, the audience was still only half as big as it was back in 2015. A similar downward trend also unfolded at the Golden Globes, where the number of TV viewers dropped to 9.3 million in 2025.

The average weekly time spent watching television in Canada from September 2023 to May 2024 was around 19 hours a week among adults aged 18 or above. Those between the age of 25 and 54 watched 10.2 hours per week. Meanwhile, teens watched just seven hours each week. Traditional vs. digital media consumption in Canada According to the most recent data, Canadians spent over 10 hours a day with major media in 2021. Taking a deeper look at the specific media split, on average, adults in the country spent 288 minutes with traditional media, and the largest portion of time – 326 minutes – consuming digital media of all sorts that year. Online video users in Canada In 2021 it was measured that 27 percent of the Canadian population watched TV online. The ability to watch time-shifted TV, as opposed to live viewing, has brought about services such as subscription video-on-demand. It is believed that in 2021 there were 18.6 million people subscribing to Netflix in Canada. The popularity and accessibility of programming on such platforms also introduced the notion of binge viewing, defined as watching at least three episodes of a TV show in one sitting.

Data on the global television market showed that there were an estimated 1.72 billion TV households worldwide in 2021. According to the source, this figure will continue to grow and surpass 1.8 billion by 2026.

How are viewers receiving their television content?

A more detailed look at television consumption by platform reveals that free-to-air digital terrestrial TV (FTA DTT) remains the most popular television distribution model worldwide. In addition to that, the latest reports also estimate that the number of IPTV households will exceed digital cable TV households for the first time in 2026. IPTV stands for internet protocol television and describes a new technology that delivers video content via the internet instead of traditional satellite or cable connections.

Spotlight on the United States

The number of TV households in the United States has been growing for decades. And yet, the U.S. pay TV penetration rate keeps dropping every year, mainly due to the ever-increasing accessibility and popularity of online video streaming options. Audiences no longer want to be tied to fixed broadcasting schedules, which is why many viewers are cutting the cord and canceling their pay TV bundles in favor of on-demand video content that can be watched whenever, wherever, and on whichever devices they want.

Between 2012 and 2020, the global TV broadcast audience of the Olympic Summer Games declined. The 2020 Olympic Summer Games in Tokyo, which actually took place in 2021, had a global audience of approximately 3.05 billion, down from 3.2 billion five years earlier.

Adults between the ages of 30 and 44 were the most frequent viewers of Saturday Night Live, with 19 percent of respondents in this age bracket stating that they watched the program often, and 28 percent stating that they watched it sometimes. Younger generations tend to view SNL far more than older generations, whereas more than half of adults aged 65 or above said that they never watched Saturday Night Live at all.

Saturday Night Live

First airing nearly 45 years ago, Saturday Night Live has won more Primetime Emmy Awards than any other show in history during its run and has established itself as a major source of American comedy and pop culture. The show’s 850th episode aired in 2018 and garnered a household rating of 4.5 as well as a household share of around 11 percent. Many of the show’s most popular segments go on to become viral video sensations, like Melissa McCarthy’s impression of Sean Spicer, which was seen by 45 percent of Americans. Alec Baldwin’s impression of Donald Trump was even more popular, with 60 percent of U.S. viewers watching the sketch.

SNL and politics

Being a late-night variety show that often touches on current events, SNL has never shied away from sketches about politics or political leaders – in fact, these are often some of the show’s most popular. Dozens of Presidents have been either depicted or referenced on the show, with Barack Obama even appearing to portray a caricature of himself. After drawing the anger of Donald Trump, the show’s audience has become more politically divided, with far more democrat-leaning Americans viewing it that Republicans.