NFL Network is in 56.5 million U.S. homes as the '11 season gets underway, a small dip from 56.8 million homes at the start of the season last year. Among sports cable networks, ESPN tops the list at 98.8 million homes. The net has now been below the 100 million homes mark for two straight months. ESPN's September distribution is also down 1% from August. The Weather Channel leads all cable nets in September with 100.1 million homes. While MLB Network began the month in 56.3 million homes, it recently signed a deal with Dish Network to extend distribution to 65 million homes. The deal makes MLB Network the most widely distributed league-owned cable network. FX, which began airing college football games this past weekend and will soon air UFC-related programming, is in 98.2 million homes in September, up 1.6% from the same period last year.

NOTE: Distribution not listed for networks that do not subscribe to daily Nielsen Co. ratings. Among those networks not listed are NHL Network, Universal Sports, CBS Sports Network, Tennis Channel, Fox College Sports and the Big Ten Network.