SBD/Issue 80/Sports Media

Golf Channel, Versus See Increase In Average Viewers In '07

USA was the top ad-supported cable net in primetime during '07, seeing a 1.8% gain in average viewers. Among sports nets, primetime programming on ESPN was tops with 1.95 million average viewers for the year, which was off 10.8% for the year prior. ESPN2 and ESPN Classic also saw declines in average viewers, 1.4% and 9.3%, respectively.  Golf Channel, during the first year of its 15-year deal with the PGA Tour, saw a 33.0% bump to an average of 137,000 viewers, which was still less than the 196,000 viewers averaged by the NFL Network in primetime, despite being in nearly half as many homes as Golf Channel. Versus also saw an increase in viewers, up 7.1% in '07. The following lists average HHs and viewers in primetime for the top ad-supported cable nets for '07, with comparisons to the same period during the previous year (THE DAILY).

'07 TOP PRIMETIME AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETS
(MON-SUN, 8:00-11:00PM)
(1/1/07-12/30/07) vs. (12/26/05-12/31/06)
RK
NET
AVG. HHs (000)
% +/-
AVG. VIEWERS (000)
% +/-
1
USA
1,997
0.7%
2,679
1.8%
2
TNT
1,679
-7.9%
2,204
-7.5%
3
ESPN
1,490
-10.1%
1,952
-10.8%
4
TBS
1,370
10.0%
1,839
12.1%
5
Lifetime
1,207
-3.2%
1,526
-0.8%
6
Fox News
1,166
4.9%
1,465
3.8%
7
A&E
1,039
19.7%
1,349
19.7%
8
Cartoon Network
1,067
-11.4%
1,339
-10.3%
9
Nick at Nite
1,058
-11.9%
1,312
-11.7%
10
Discovery Channel
915
10.6%
1,281
12.9%
11
FX
942
0.2%
1,277
1.3%
12
Hallmark
941
5.4%
1,252
6.6%
13
Spike
910
-2.4%
1,230
-1.2%
14
Sci Fi
867
3.3%
1,197
6.5%
15
Court TV*
924
27.1%
1,178
27.4%
OTHER SPORTS NETWORK RANKINGS
RK
NET
AVG. HHs (000)
% +/-
AVG. VIEWERS (000)
% +/-
28
ESPN2
509
-0.8%
657
-1.4%
--
NFL Network^
455
34.6%
666
37.0%
45
Speed
185
-5.1%
240
-4.0%
47
Versus
169
10.5%
225
7.1%
59
Golf Channel
113
31.4%
137
33.0%
63
ESPN Classic
85
-9.6%
107
-9.3%


NOTES: * = rebranded as truTV in '08.  ^ = The NFL Network did not start receiving ratings until November '06.  HHs and viewers listed for the net reflect November/December '07 in primetime vs. the same period in '06.

Return to top

Related Topics:

Media

Video Powered By - Castfire CMS Powered By - Sitecore Digital Agency - Digitaria

Report a Bug