Holiday programming and marquee football events powered strong viewership gains for major media companies in December, with Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, Hallmark, Netflix and Amazon emerging as key beneficiaries, according to Nielsen’s December 2025 Media Distributor Gauge.

The Nielsen report, released in January, shows that distributors carrying major sports and festive movie line-ups recorded notable month-on-month growth during the peak holiday season, when audiences traditionally spend more time with television and streaming platforms.

Disney posted the biggest multiplatform increase in December, holding on to its No. 2 position overall. The company saw a 4 percent rise in total viewing, adding 0.2 share points to reach a 10.7 percent share. ESPN was the primary growth driver, delivering a 30 percent jump in viewership on the back of Monday Night Football, the expanded College Football Playoffs and College Gameday.  At the same time, Freeform doubled its November viewing, buoyed by holiday favourites such as ‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer’ and ‘Frosty the Snowman’.

Warner Bros. Discovery also enjoyed a strong month, led by its cable networks. TBS and TNT registered gains of 23 percent and 24 percent, respectively, driven by college football playoff coverage and seasonal movie programming. ‘A Christmas Story’ emerged as a key title for TBS, while HBO Max recorded a 10 percent increase in viewing, supported by original series ‘It: Welcome to Derry’ and sustained interest in evergreen sitcoms ‘The Big Bang Theory’ and ‘Friends’.

Hallmark Channel continued its holiday dominance, maintaining momentum from November and claiming the top five movie telecasts across cable in December. The most-watched titles included ‘She’s Making a List’, ‘Single on the 25^th’, ‘A Suite Holiday Romance’, ‘A Make or Break Holiday’ and ‘Oy to the World’, underscoring Hallmark’s grip on festive movie audiences.

Streaming platforms also set new benchmarks. As highlighted in Nielsen’s ‘The Gauge’ December report, Christmas Day became the most-streamed day on record, with 55.1 billion viewing minutes. NFL coverage on Netflix and Prime Video led the surge, helping both platforms achieve their highest-ever monthly shares.

Netflix climbed to the third position overall, posting a 10 percent increase in monthly viewing. Its NFL Christmas Day doubleheader, combined with the continued popularity of ‘Stranger Things’ cited as the most-streamed original series ever — added 0.7 share points, taking Netflix to a record 9.0 percent share.

Amazon, meanwhile, logged a 12 percent rise in December viewing, driven by ‘Thursday Night Football’, a record-setting NFL game on Christmas Day and the new season of ‘Fallout’. The platform closed the month with a 4.3 percent total share, its best to date. The Roku Channel also achieved a platform-best 3.0 percent share, continuing a sharp growth trajectory that has seen it rise 45 percent year-on-year and nearly triple since December 2023.

In contrast, broadcast network affiliates and cable news networks saw declines compared to November. Nielsen attributed this to the absence of high-profile sports events such as Thanksgiving NFL games, a lighter college football slate on broadcast television and no World Series games during the month.

Nielsen noted that the December 2025 measurement period covered four weeks, from December 1 to December 28, in line with the broadcast calendar, which tracks weekly intervals starting on Mondays.