United States – October 23, 2026 -- Nielsen's The Gauge now reports a quarterly Ad Supported Gauge for Q1 2026, measuring the share of U.S. TV viewing that is ad supported across total day among Persons 2+, alongside its monthly platform and distributor breakdowns.
Nielsen splits ad-supported TV viewing by category for Q1 2026
The quarterly view contains two components: the Ad Supported Share of TV and the Category Share of Ad Supported TV. Both cover Q1 2026 on a total-day basis for Persons 2+. The monthly Gauge separately tracks viewing by platform and by media distributor.
Two separately weighted panels feed the data
Nielsen builds the Gauge from two panels. Streaming data comes from a subset of Streaming Meter-enabled TV households within the National TV panel. Broadcast, cable and total usage come from Nielsen's overall TV panel.
Each monthly figure reflects a broadcast month and uses Live+7 viewing, which counts live viewing plus linear viewing up to seven days later.
Reclassification rules since 2023 change how streaming is counted
Since the June 2023 interval, Nielsen has used Streaming Content Ratings to identify original content from reported platforms viewed via cable set-top boxes. That viewing is credited to streaming and the distributing platform, and removed from the "other" category. Unidentified content viewed through cable set-top boxes remains in "other."
Since the February 2023 interval, linear streaming through vMVPD and MVPD apps such as Hulu Live, YouTube TV, Sling TV and Charter/Spectrum is excluded from streaming. That viewing is credited to broadcast or cable instead. "Hulu SVOD" and "YouTube Main" therefore exclude linear streaming usage.
The "other" category covers unmeasured tuning, unmeasured video on demand, audio streaming, gaming and other-device use such as DVD playback.