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A line chart showing the share of U.S. TV viewing by distributor from January 2024 to December 2025. YouTube leads at 12.7%, followed by Disney at 10.7%. Paramount has 8.6%, NBCUniversal at 8.2%, and Fox at 7.0%.

Share of U.S. TV viewing by distributor

Data: Nielsen's The Gauge; Note: Does not include YouTube TV; Chart: Axios Visuals

Legacy broadcasters are recruiting creators as on-air talent and promotional partners.

Why it matters: Networks are racing to win back younger audiences who have abandoned TV for YouTube and TikTok.

By the numbers: YouTube overtook legacy networks in total TV usage in February 2025 with an 11.6% share, according to Nielsen.

YouTube has kept that lead for 11 consecutive months. Nielsen reported it capturing 12.7% of TV usage in December, ahead of traditional networks like Disney, Paramount, NBCUniversal, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery.

State of play: Networks have established official creator strategies and new partnerships in recent months. 

ESPN just hired Sportsish founder Lily Shimbashi to cover events like the NFL Honors awards show, part of its broader creator strategy shaped in large part by Omar Raja. The network hired Katie Feeney last year to not only create for social media but also to appear on its studio shows.

CBS News last month hired a slate of new contributors who are mostly podcasters and independent writers on Substack, including health podcaster Andrew Huberman, New York chef Clare de Boer and youth trend journalist Casey Lewis.

CNN announced "CNN Creators" last fall as a new show and part of a multiplatform initiative of digital-native journalists covering tech, sports, culture and more.

NBCUniversal launched its Creator Collective program ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics, partnering with platforms to bring creators like Kai Cenat, Haley Kalil and Livvy Dunne to the Summer Games. It has continued the program across its Legendary February coverage this month.

Zoom in: NBCUniversal's goal is to create a bridge between social media and TV and drive audiences to its live coverage, senior vice president of global platform partnerships Geo Karapetyan tells Axios.

"We were tapping into this enormous excitement for the Games. This is one way to amplify that excitement, to increase the conversation across social and that hopefully feeds the flywheel, and people become more excited, and ultimately tune into our coverage on NBC," Karapetyan says.

"We want people to watch the Olympics. We want them to consume it across our platforms, but we also want people to be a megaphone for us," NBC Sports' senior vice president of consumer engagement Lyndsay Signor adds. "That fandom is very important."

Follow the money: Creators also have been part of brand campaigns, NBCUniversal's president, advertising and partnerships Karen Kovacs says.

Visa partnered with NBCUniversal to bring creator Allison Kuch and her husband, former NFL player Isaac Rochell, to the Super Bowl and Olympics.

The big picture: Creators have developed their own communities and can direct their followers — who might otherwise not watch TV — to tune in. 

"They can build this trust and have this conversation with audiences that have this authentic and personal connection in a very fragmented world," Kovacs says.

What's next: Signor says NBCUniversal will look to continue its Creator Collective initiative for the LA Olympics in 2028. 

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Legacy TV leans on creators to boost viewership

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