Live sports continue to play a major role in keeping traditional television alive. New data from Nielsen shows that the NBA Playoffs, aired on TNT, were the main reason Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) saw a rise in TV usage in May 2025.
According to Nielsen’s Media Distributor Gauge, WBD accounted for 7% of all TV use in the United States in May. This is an increase from 6.7% in April. The main factor behind this growth was a 69% increase in viewing on TNT one of WBD’s key channels mostly driven by the NBA Playoffs.
Notably, the eight New York Knicks games aired on TNT between April 29 and May 26 were a major hit. These games attracted 7 billion minutes of viewing time, which is more than 20% of the total NBA Playoff viewership (31.4 billion minutes) on both WBD and Disney-owned channels for the month.
Furthermore, Fox also experienced growth in TV viewership. It went from 6.8% in April to 7% in May. Fox’s improvement was due to two main reasons: the growing popularity of its free streaming service Tubi and consistent ratings from Fox Sports’ NASCAR telecasts. Tubi alone accounted for 2.2% of all TV use in May.
Meanwhile, YouTube continued to hold the top position in the rankings. It had 12.5% of total TV usage in May, slightly up from 12.4% in April. This marked the fourth month in a row that YouTube led all media companies. Disney remained in second place with a steady 10.7%, followed by NBCUniversal with 8%, Paramount at 7.9%, and Netflix at 7.5%. These figures highlight the competitive nature of today’s TV and streaming landscape.
The rise in viewership for live sports is nothing new. Sports events, especially those like the NBA Playoffs, continue to attract massive audiences and play a key role in driving ratings for traditional TV channels.
As Marzio Perrelli, Executive Vice President of Sport at Sky Italia, said, “Wimbledon is not just a tennis tournament it is a world sports legend.” This statement reflects how sports content continues to be highly valued across networks and regions.
Additionally, the increased interest in sports is not only helping traditional broadcasters but also boosting new streaming platforms like Tubi, which continue to gain market share by offering free, ad-supported content.
In summary, the May Nielsen TV rankings clearly show how much of a difference live sports can make for networks. With TNT’s NBA Playoffs coverage pulling in billions of minutes of viewing, Warner Bros. Discovery was able to grow its share of total TV usage. Fox also benefited from NASCAR and Tubi’s growth, while YouTube kept its lead as the most-used TV platform in the U.S. As more media companies look to attract and keep viewers, live sports and free streaming services are proving to be powerful tools. The latest Nielsen data confirms that despite the rise of on-demand streaming, live events especially sports still draw some of the biggest TV audiences.