According to Nielsen’s April 2026 reports of The Gauge and Media Distributor Gauge, TV viewing patterns in the US during 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 per cent 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 per cent of cable viewership, while cable news remained the most watched cable genre with 29 per cent of cable viewership.

Streaming maintained a 47.6 per cent 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 per cent of total watch-time.
• Prime Video climbed to 4.2 per cent 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 (pictured). The platform’s coverage of the New York Knicks first playoff game against the Atlanta Hawks on April 18th stood as its most-watched game of the month. Prime Video’s share of TV in the Media Distributor Gauge, which also includes viewing that occurs on Twitch, was 4.3 per cent of TV in April (+0.5 pts.).
• Tubi viewership was up 3 per cent in April, which resulted in a platform-best 2.3 per cent share of television for the ad-supported streamer (+0.1 pt.).
• Warner Bros Discovery Streaming represented 1.5 per cent 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 per cent of total TV watch-time in April. Despite sports events representing just 12 per cent 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 per cent), 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 per cent of TV viewing in April, while Disney held at No. 2 with 10.3 per cent.

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Categories: Articles, Broadcast, Consumer Behaviour, Content, Research, VOD

Tags: HBO Max, ncaa, nielsen, Prime Video, streaming, Tubi