NBA TV, NBC Sports Network and Speed have seen the biggest gains in U.S. household distribution among cable sports networks since the start of the year. NBA TV has seen an increase of 3.6 million homes, which ranks it sixth among all cable networks in gains over the first five months of '12. Networks seeing drops over the same period include ESPN, ESPN2, FX and Fuel TV. The Weather Channel and TBS are the only cable networks in over 100 million homes in May. Listed below is distribution in the U.S. for the top 10 cable networks in May, with comparisons to recent years. Also listed are figures for sports-related networks.
| U.S. CABLE NETWORK DISTRIBUTION FOR MAY |
| NETWORK | '06
(000) | '07
(000) | '08
(000) | '09
(000) | '10
(000) | '11
(000) | '12
(000) |
| Weather Channel | 90,233 | 93,170 | 96,340 | 99,029 | 100,054 | 101,074 | 100,271 |
| TBS | 90,129 | 92,901 | 96,966 | 99,229 | 100,608 | 101,189 | 100,070 |
Nickelodeon/
Nick-At-Nite | 90,164 | 93,077 | 96,104 | 98,574 | 100,064 | 100,699 | 99,904 |
| Discovery | 90,884 | 93,691 | 96,644 | 98,796 | 100,101 | 100,890 | 99,733 |
| Food Network | 89,250 | 92,301 | 95,626 | 98,087 | 99,934 | 100,517 | 99,717 |
| USA | 90,445 | 93,136 | 96,113 | 98,429 | 99,541 | 100,402 | 99,420 |
| CNN | 90,570 | 93,432 | 96,186 | 98,380 | 99,640 | 100,441 | 99,300 |
Cartoon Network/
Adult Swim | 89,437 | 92,325 | 95,520 | 97,662 | 98,836 | 99,663 | 99,184 |
| TNT | 90,509 | 93,220 | 96,130 | 98,268 | 99,630 | 100,385 | 99,096 |
| A&E | 90,073 | 92,925 | 95,875 | 98,005 | 99,303 | 100,188 | 99,055 |
| ESPN | 90,665 | 93,420 | 96,169 | 98,140 | 99,612 | 100,187 | 99,029 |
| ESPN2 | 90,208 | 93,029 | 95,887 | 97,746 | 99,527 | 100,090 | 98,946 |
| FX | 88,654 | 91,322 | 94,110 | 95,365 | 96,424 | 99,383 | 98,166 |
| Golf Channel | 68,723 | 74,587 | 74,266 | 80,803 | 83,469 | 83,883 | 84,784 |
| Speed | 66,807 | 70,181 | 72,285 | 73,119 | 75,713 | 78,800 | 81,979 |
| NBC Sports Network | 69,015 | 71,842 | 72,622 | 75,182 | 74,091 | 76,247 | 79,123 |
| ESPNews | 49,394 | 57,252 | 63,358 | 68,315 | 73,101 | 74,177 | 74,388 |
| ESPNU | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 73,021 | 72,784 |
| MLB Network | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 55,323 | 56,005 | 68,957 |
| NBA TV | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 55,725 | 59,454 |
| NFL Network | n/a | 42,225 | 41,237 | 41,999 | 56,316 | 57,127 | 59,001 |
| Fox Soccer | n/a | n/a | n/a | 34,727 | 36,503 | 39,046 | 41,069 |
| Fuel TV | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 31,690 | 36,482 |
| ESPN Classic | 61,150 | 64,985 | 62,337 | 63,494 | 55,468 | 35,270 | 32,271 |
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NOTES: Figures not available for nets that do not subscribe to regular Nielsen ratings, including NHL Network, Universal Sports, Tennis Channel, Fox College Sports, Big Ten Network, Longhorn Network and CBS Sports Network.
