The most popular digital entertainment platforms

Lockdowns didn’t invent staying in, but they turned it into a shared ritual. Suddenly, the living room became a small, obedient venue: you could watch a title fight, a league game, or a concert film without the commute, the queue, or the sticky floor. Nielsen’s early-pandemic reporting captured the blunt behavioral shift: people were forced indoors and streaming consumption rose sharply, hour by hour, week by week. Even after restrictions eased, the habit didn’t vanish; it matured into something more permanent: entertainment as an always-available menu, not a calendar.

The living room became the venue

What changed wasn’t only volume, but the shape of attention. People began gathering again because the screen was already there, and the outside world was complex. Nielsen noted spikes in at-home media use during the first wave of COVID-19 restrictions, with connected-device streaming surging as daily routines collapsed into indoor time. The “event” didn’t disappear; it just migrated. A Saturday night could still feel like a night out, just with better snacks and fewer strangers breathing near your shoulder.

Streaming video’s new hierarchy

In May 2025, Nielsen reported that streaming accounted for 44.8% of total TV usage in the U.S., surpassing the combined share of broadcast and cable for the first time. In that same report, YouTube’s main service accounted for 12.5% of all TV viewing, which is an astonishing figure that says as much about comfort viewing as it does about traditional “television.”

So which platforms lead the pack, and why? Netflix remains the default “library” streamer in many households, while YouTube has become the living-room channel-surfing replacement: clips, long videos, podcasts, and live streams without a fixed schedule. Disney’s bundle logic keeps it sticky, while Amazon Prime Video benefits from being attached to a broader membership habit and from anchoring certain live sports nights. The real winner since COVID-19 has been the idea that “TV” is now a row of apps.

Music platforms: the playlist replaces the shelf

Music streaming had already won the convenience war before 2020, but the pandemic years deepened the dependency: people worked, cooked, exercised, and coped with headphones on. Subscription listening continued to drive growth, according to industry figures. Reuters reported that IFPI said global recorded music revenue grew once again in 2024, driven mainly by paid streaming subscriptions, which reached 752 million subscribers worldwide.

Most often, when people compile a list of the music platforms that matter most, it begins with Spotify and Apple Music, with YouTube Music or Amazon Music added, depending on the ecosystem and habits. In organization features-recommendations versus curated content by editors at Apple, emphasizing sound features, they have made different statements about what their service offers; for example, over 100 million songs available on Apple’s platform represent nearly all recorded music. The borders between song and video on YouTube are so porous, from every kind of live version or alternate take to rabbit-hole logic, watching as listening, that it thrives exactly there. Meanwhile, niche platforms (Bandcamp for direct-to-fan releases, SoundCloud for uploads and scenes, Tidal for sound-quality positioning) stay relevant by doing one thing with conviction rather than trying to be everything.

Sports platforms: where the season lives now

Sports is the one category that still resists the idea of “watch whenever.” The value is live, so the platforms compete on rights and reliability. In the U.S., the NFL’s out-of-market Sunday package moved to YouTube TV and YouTube Primetime Channels starting with the 2023 season, a deal the league announced with Google. Beginning in 2022, Amazon Prime Video became the first streaming service to secure an exclusive national NFL package under a long-term agreement, and its broadcast era has been defined by its presentation and familiar voices, such as Al Michaels.

MLS is also shifting models in 2026. Apple and Major League Soccer announced that, beginning in 2026, all MLS matches will stream on Apple TV and will be available to Apple TV subscribers at no additional cost. The standalone MLS Season Pass will end after the 2025 season, while the “one destination, no blackouts” concept remains the core pitch of the partnership.

Basketball has its own subscription model: NBA League Pass positions itself as the league’s out-of-market streaming home, with live and on-demand games and features such as alternative broadcasts and stat overlays.

Sports betting: the second-screen temptation

Sports betting rides shotgun to this whole ecosystem because it feeds on the same thing live sports feeds on: suspense. Odds can change due to injuries, lineups, weather, or simply a wave of public money, and none of that guarantees an outcome.

Some viewers keep MelBet download (Arabic: melbet تحميل) on a second screen to follow live lines while watching the match feed. MelBet has operated as a bookmaker for many years and is familiar to a broad international audience, so fans choose this app as a good way for making bets. 

Concerts at home: the tour comes to you

Concert culture also migrated. During COVID-19, live performances were forced into cameras and living rooms, and the habit lingered even as venues reopened, because a streamed performance fits modern life in a way a Tuesday-night commute doesn’t. Apple framed Apple Music Live as a destination for watching exclusive performances by top talent and for on-demand replay. It also built “sessions” content, making the concert not a bootleg memory but a designed product.

That makes this new kind of fandom something between a ticket and a documentary, with background comfort content added. You can still make your way to the arena at crunch time, but now screen versions provide parallel tours running quietly all year long.

What people seem to want now

Post-COVID entertainment platforms win when they reduce friction: fast playback, solid apps, simple discovery, and a sense that your friends are watching or listening somewhere nearby, even if “nearby” is a group chat and a shared link. Nielsen’s recent reporting indicates that streaming has become the default mode of TV time, not a niche alternative.

The deeper truth is less technical: people want control. Start times that fit real schedules. Music that follows moods. Sports that travel between screens. And, ideally, an evening that still feels like an event, even if you never leave the couch.