With coverage of the London Games set to begin later this month, CNBC is seeing the most U.S. distribution among nets that will air coverage with 97.5 million homes. MSNBC ranks second with 95.5 million homes, while Bravo has 94.6 million and NBC Sports Network has 78.1 million. ESPN and ESPN2 are in 98.9 and 98.8 million homes in July, respectively. Neither network has been in over 100 million homes since July of last year. MLB Network is in 69.9 million homes this month, marking the third straight month the net has set a new distribution mark. Other cable sports networks seeing record distribution this month are Fox Soccer, Fuel TV, NFL Network and NBA TV.
Listed below are the top 10 cable TV networks in distribution for the month of July, with comparisons to the same month in previous years. Also listed are the figures for various sports cable networks.
| JULY CABLE TV NETWORK DISTRIBUTION IN THE U.S. |
| NETWORK | '06
(000) | '07
(000) | '08
(000) | '09
(000) | '10
(000) | '11
(000) | '12
(000) |
| The Weather Channel | 90,512 | 93,992 | 96,310 | 99,186 | 100,092 | 101,065 | 100,205 |
| TBS | 90,491 | 93,649 | 96,838 | 99,324 | 100,495 | 101,227 | 100,025 |
| Nickelodeon/Nick-at-Nite | 90,495 | 93,892 | 96,072 | 98,741 | 100,039 | 100,699 | 99,664 |
| Discovery Channel | 91,163 | 94,501 | 96,345 | 98,891 | 100,065 | 100,891 | 99,604 |
| Food Network | 89,530 | 93,173 | 95,552 | 98,270 | 99,878 | 100,639 | 99,601 |
| USA Network | 90,788 | 93,980 | 95,980 | 98,556 | 99,468 | 100,480 | 99,301 |
| Cartoon Network/Adult Swim | 89,675 | 93,241 | 95,344 | 97,584 | 98,828 | 99,746 | 99,159 |
| CNN | 90,885 | 94,170 | 95,910 | 98,559 | 99,596 | 100,413 | 99,156 |
| A&E | 90,410 | 93,784 | 95,680 | 98,156 | 99,275 | 100,219 | 99,012 |
| HLN | 90,067 | 93,491 | 95,839 | 98,462 | 99,587 | 100,236 | 98,971 |
| ESPN | 91,021 | 94,239 | 96,073 | 98,296 | 99,539 | 100,127 | 98,903 |
| ESPN2 | 90,530 | 93,883 | 95,519 | 97,878 | 99,480 | 100,005 | 98,806 |
| FX | 88,849 | 92,038 | 93,188 | 95,555 | 96,396 | 99,369 | 98,052 |
| Golf Channel | 69,008 | 74,892 | 74,621 | 81,051 | 83,055 | 83,928 | 84,436 |
| Speed | 67,145 | 71,211 | 72,744 | 73,525 | 76,447 | 78,452 | 81,449 |
| NBC Sports Network | 69,504 | 71,918 | 72,901 | 75,271 | 73,888 | 76,155 | 78,063 |
| ESPNews | 50,137 | 59,551 | 64,432 | 68,487 | 73,545 | 74,316 | 74,680 |
| ESPNU | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 73,234 | 73,234 |
| MLB Network | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 54,928 | 56,439 | 69,861 |
| NBA TV | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 55,348 | 59,833 |
| NFL Network | n/a | 43,824 | 39,946 | 42,214 | 56,435 | 56,883 | 59,499 |
| Fox Soccer | n/a | n/a | n/a | 34,396 | 36,476 | 39,142 | 41,442 |
| Fuel TV | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 32,148 | 37,029 |
| ESPN Classic | 61,374 | 63,290 | 62,634 | 63,518 | 42,042 | 34,085 | 31,969 |
| | | | | | | | |
NOTES: Figures not available for nets that do not subscribe to regular Nielsen ratings, including Big Ten Network, CBS Sports Network, Fox College Sports, Longhorn Network, NHL Network, Tennis Channel and Universal Sports.
