The Roku Channel has climbed into a new position in the U.S. television marketplace, ranking as the fourth most-watched streaming service when YouTube is set aside, according to Nielsen’s July 2026 Gauge and Media Distributor Gauge reports. (Note: We rank YouTube as its own category. It is by far the most watched streaming service in the United States.)
Streaming as a whole continued its seasonal rise, accounting for 49.0 percent of all television viewing after a 3.4 percent increase from June. Total television usage itself rose 2.2 percent month over month, an unusual jump for the June-to-July period that typically sees flat or declining consumption. The final weeks of the FIFA World Cup 2026 and the usual summer lift in on-demand viewing combined to produce that result.
YouTube remained the single largest platform, capturing a record 14.2 percent of all TV time after a 6 percent monthly gain. Once that service is excluded from the streaming ranking, the order among the remaining platforms places Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney’s streaming properties ahead of The Roku Channel. The free ad-supported service has steadily expanded its share of overall television viewing through a combination of original programming, licensed movies and series, live linear channels and tight integration with Roku hardware that is present in tens of millions of U.S. households.
Disney’s streaming group reached 4.7 percent of total TV, up 4 percent from June, with gains across every demographic, including a 7 percent increase among viewers ages 6 to 17. Peacock jumped 15 percent from the prior month to 2.6 percent of TV, helped by Love Island USA, which generated 4.9 billion viewing minutes in July alone and 11.7 billion minutes across June and July combined. Broadcast television edged up 1 percent and finished at 19.5 percent of TV, while cable declined 2 percent to 18.7 percent after World Cup telecasts on cable networks dropped sharply from June.
FOX recorded the largest monthly viewing increase among media distributors, adding 0.4 share points to reach 7.8 percent of TV. NBCUniversal-Versant held the No. 2 distributor position at 9.2 percent. The July measurement window ran from June 29 through July 26. Nielsen notes that The Gauge and Media Distributor Gauge capture both ad-supported and non-ad-supported viewing and are not the same as the currency ratings used for advertising sales. Methodological updates are planned for the fall.
The Roku Channel’s placement as the fourth-largest streaming service excluding YouTube underscores how free, ad-supported platforms have become a durable part of the viewing mix. Its growth has been supported by a large installed base of Roku devices, a wide catalog of on-demand titles and hundreds of live channels that require no subscription. As streaming approaches half of all television time, services that combine convenience, breadth of content and no monthly fee continue to capture a larger slice of American viewing habits. The July data show that pattern holding even in a month dominated by a global sports event that lifted traditional broadcast outlets.
Please add Cord Cutters News as a source for your Google News feed HERE. You can watch today’s top cord cutting stories on our YouTube channel HERE. Please follow us on Facebook and X for more news, tips, and reviews. Need cord cutting tech support? Join our Cord Cutting Tech Support Facebook Group for help.
