Sports and Dramas Drive April Viewing Patterns in Nielsen’s Latest Gauge Reports

Cable Gains Share for Second Consecutive Month in Six-Month-High Finish, Boosted by NCAA Tournament Final Four and Championship Games

YouTube Maintains No. 1 Spot in Nielsen's Media Distributor Gauge with 13.4% of TV in April

CBS Owns Top 3 Broadcast Programs with Final Round of Masters Tournament, Plus Tracker and Marshals

'The Pitt' Leads Streaming Titles with 4.5 Billion Viewing Minutes on HBO Max

NEW YORK - June 25, 2026 - According to Nielsen's April 2026 reports of The Gauge™ and Media Distributor Gauge, TV viewing patterns in April were noticeably consistent with the same interval in previous years. In addition to the seasonal shift to spring and warmer weather, other drivers of April viewing trends included the conclusion of the NCAA Basketball Tournament, the Masters golf tournament, the start of the NBA Playoffs, and the continued strength of broadcast dramas.

Cable rode the momentum of March Madness into April and was again the lone share gainer among viewing categories this month, adding 0.2 share points to finish with 21.6% of TV-its largest share of television over the past six months. The NCAA Men's Basketball Championship game that aired across TBS, TNT and TruTV on April 6 drew April's largest cable audience. The cable sports genre represented 9% of cable viewership, while cable news remained the most watched cable genre with 29% of cable viewership.

Streaming maintained a 47.6% share of TV in April, with multiple bright spots within the category, including:

• YouTube added 0.2 points to its share of TV and remained atop the Media Distributor Gauge chart with 13.4% of total watch-time.
• Amazon Prime Video climbed to 4.2% of TV in April (+0.4 pts.), getting a boost from its slate of 22 NBA games-including the Play-In tournament and start of the Playoffs-and the premiere of its final season of The Boys. The platform's coverage of the New York Knicks first playoff game against the Atlanta Hawks on April 18 stood as its most-watched game of the month. Amazon's share of TV in the Media Distributor Gauge, which also includes viewing that occurs on Twitch, was 4.3% of TV in April (+0.5 pts.).
• Tubi viewership was up 3% in April, which resulted in a platform-best 2.3% share of television for the ad-supported streamer (+0.1 pt.).
• Warner Bros. Discovery Streaming represented 1.5% of TV in April (+0.1 pt.), propelled by the month's most-watched streaming title, The Pitt, which totaled 4.5 billion viewing minutes on HBO Max.

The broadcast category represented 19.9% of total TV watch-time in April. Despite sports events representing just 12% of broadcast viewership this month (compared to about one-third of the category in the fall), sports still topped April's broadcast telecasts with the final round of the Masters Tournament on CBS.

Broadcast dramas represented the most-watched genre within the category (28%), led by Tracker and Marshals on CBS, and High Potential on ABC. Among media companies, Paramount moved into the No. 4 slot in the rankings with 7.9% of TV viewing in April, while Disney held at No. 2 with 10.3%.

The April 2026 interval spanned four weeks, from 03/30/2026 through 04/26/2026. Nielsen reporting follows the broadcast calendar, with weekly intervals beginning on Monday.

NOTE: The Gauge and Media Distributor Gauge (MDG) do not reflect Nielsen's currency TV ratings that inform advertising sales. The Gauge and MDG reflect total TV viewing, which includes both ad-supported and non-ad-supported viewing. Nielsen made enhancements to its currency ratings for advertising in February 2026, with impact data provided to clients and the industry in advance. Nielsen is working on updates to The Gauge and MDG reports to better reflect and include currency enhancements for the Fall TV season, at which time Nielsen will provide additional back data to clients to assist in the transition.

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Lauren Pabst
[email protected]