The pandemic accelerated changes in how people use their televisions, further reducing the dominance in traditional live viewing of what networks are showing, a new study has found.

Nearly two-thirds of people said in June that they viewed free video on demand content on their televisions once a week, up from 46% in February 2020, according to Hub Entertainment Research.

Hub also found that 39% of people said they paid to watch a movie at least once a week, and 39% also said they paid to watch a TV show. In both cases, that doubled the percentage of people who said the same thing before the COVID-19 shutdown.

B次元官网网址淧eople had a lot more time so they had a vacuum to fill,B次元官网网址� said Jon Giegengack, Hub principal and founder. B次元官网网址淭he people who didnB次元官网网址檛 get laid off had more money to spend.B次元官网网址�

While these trends predated the pandemic, the time at home speeded things up, Giegengack said. Forty percent of the people who own smart TVs bought them since the initial COVID-19 shutdown, he said. Hub surveyed 3,000 U.S. consumers aged 14 to 74 who watch TV at least an hour a week.

The shift is also illustrated in the sharp declines of people watching live network television over the past few years.

Traditional television ratings by the Nielsen company illustrated two winners last week. FoxB次元官网网址檚 broadcast of the B次元官网网址淔ield of DreamsB次元官网网址� baseball game from a field built out of an Iowa cornfield was the third most-watched program all week.

HBO said SundayB次元官网网址檚 finale of its six-episode limited series, B次元官网网址淭he White Lotus,B次元官网网址� was seen by nearly 2 million people across all formats. The viewership was more than triple what it was for the series debut.

In an otherwise quiet TV week, ABC led with an average of 2.69 million viewers in prime time. NBC had 2.65 million, CBS had 2.4 million, Fox had 2.2 million, Univision had 1.3 million, Ion Television had 1.1 million and Telemundo had 1 million.

Fox B次元官网网址 Channel led the cable networks, with an average of 2.2 million viewers in prime time. MSNBC had 1.29 million, HGTV had 1.14 million, TLC had 1.05 million and Hallmark had 829,000.

ABCB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淲orld B次元官网网址 TonightB次元官网网址� led the evening news ratings race, with an average of 7.8 million viewers last week. NBCB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淣ightly B次元官网网址B次元官网网址� was second with 6.5 million and the B次元官网网址淐BS Evening B次元官网网址B次元官网网址� had 4.7 million.

For the week of Aug. 9-15, the 20 most-watched programs, their networks and viewerships:

1. B次元官网网址淎mericaB次元官网网址檚 Got TalentB次元官网网址� (Tuesday), NBC, 7.14 million.

2. B次元官网网址�60 Minutes,B次元官网网址� CBS, 6.51 million.

3. B次元官网网址淔ield of Dreams Game: N.Y. Yankees vs. Chicago White Sox,B次元官网网址� Fox, 5.85 million.

4. B次元官网网址淎mericaB次元官网网址檚 Got TalentB次元官网网址� (Wednesday), NBC, 5.67 million.

5. B次元官网网址淭he Bachelorette,B次元官网网址� ABC, 4.6 million.

6. B次元官网网址淐elebrity Family Feud,B次元官网网址� ABC, 4.5 million.

7. B次元官网网址淏ig BrotherB次元官网网址� (Wednesday), CBS, 3.96 million.

8. B次元官网网址淏ig BrotherB次元官网网址� (Thursday), CBS, 3.86 million.

9. B次元官网网址淏ig BrotherB次元官网网址� (Sunday), CBS, 3.78 million.

10. B次元官网网址淭he $100,000 Pyramid,B次元官网网址� ABC, 3.68 million.

11. B次元官网网址淎mericaB次元官网网址檚 Funniest Home B次元官网网址s,B次元官网网址� ABC, 3.59 million.

12. ABC B次元官网网址 Special: War in Afghanistan, ABC, 3.47 million.

13. B次元官网网址淎merican Ninja Warrior,B次元官网网址� NBC, 3.45 million.

14. B次元官网网址淣CIS,B次元官网网址� CBS, 3.41 million.

15. B次元官网网址淧ress Your Luck,B次元官网网址� ABC, 3.28 million.

16. B次元官网网址淔ield of Dreams Post-Game,B次元官网网址� Fox, 3.15 million.

17. B次元官网网址淭ucker Carlson TonightB次元官网网址� (Monday), Fox B次元官网网址, 3.124 million.

18. B次元官网网址淭he Neighborhood,B次元官网网址� CBS, 3.118 million.

19. B次元官网网址淭ucker Carlson TonightB次元官网网址� (Tuesday), Fox B次元官网网址, 3.1 million.

20. B次元官网网址淭ucker Carlson TonightB次元官网网址� (Thursday), Fox B次元官网网址, 2.91 million.

B次元官网网址擠avid Bauder, The Associated Press