U.S. television viewership increased 4% in December from the prior month, driven by high demand for sports and holiday programming, according to Nielsen's latest Media Distributor Gauge report.

Six of the most viewed telecasts of the month were Thanksgiving and Christmas; Thanksgiving NFL games grabbed the top three slots. Reaching 38.5 million, the Giants vs. Cowboys game on Fox (FOX, Financials) attracted the most viewers. Fourth with 23.8 million viewers was NBC's (CMCSA, Financials) Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. With each NFL Christmas game surpassing 23 million viewers, Netflix's ( NFLX, Financials) two NFL games landed fifth and sixth places.

Driven by ESPN's football programming and cable networks, Disney (DIS, Financials) remained the most viewed media distributor in December, accounting 11.2% of total U.S. TV consumption. Owned by Alphabet (GOOG, Financials), YouTube had an 11.1% market share and TV viewership of the site climbed 7% for the month.

Supported by its Christmas Day NFL games and robust viewing for Carry-on, Squid Game, and Virgin River, Netflix accounted for 8.5% of total TV view time. Fox had a 7.1% market share; Amazon (AMZN, Financials) and Roku (ROKU, Financials) grabbed 4% and 2%, respectively.

The Nielsen survey noted a seasonal increase in demand for Christmas movies and a post-election drop in news viewership.