Nielsen records 85 percent increase in Americans streaming video

American online media streaming rates during the first three weeks of March were the highest on record, up 85 percent compared to March 2019 reports, according to Nielsen, a data and measurement firm.

The record rate comes as the coronavirus sweeps across the world, forcing many countries to order people to stay inside and self-quarantine. 

Nielsen recorded an estimated 400 billion streaming minutes from viewers during the first three weeks of the month, according to Variety.

On March 11, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the coronavirus a global pandemic, subsequently leading to 3 out of 4 Americans either under orders to stay at home or who will be by the end of the month, according to The New York Times.

On March 16, five days after the announcement of a global pandemic, consumers watched nearly 156.1 billion minutes of streaming content on TV, up 22 percent from the week before and 2.2 times higher than the comparable week in 2019.

Netflix streaming represents the highest percentage of the billions of minutes viewed during the third week of March at 23 percent, followed by YouTube at 20 percent and Hulu at 10 percent.

Amazon Prime video accounted for 9 percent of the increase, while Nielsen’s “Others” category reported accounted for 31 percent, which includes Disney Plus streaming numbers that are not currently separated by Nielsen’s analysis.