NFL Net October Primetime Audience Up Big; Lack Of NHL Games Hurts NBC Sports Net

The addition of early season games to NFL Network paid big dividends in October. The net saw primetime viewership jump 501% year-over-year, with total-day audience up 132%. NBA TV also saw big year-over-year gains in October with preseason games this year. The net saw primetime viewership jump 231% from October '11, when the league was still mired in a lockout and no preseason games were played. Fuel TV was also the beneficiary of a strong October, with additional UFC telecasts helping the net to a 150% jump in primetime audience. On the flip side, NBC Sports Network saw a significant drop in primetime audience in October without the aid of its main draw, the NHL. NBCSN's primetime audience was down 62% in October, with total-day audience down 45%. ESPN led all sports nets in primetime with 3.1 million average viewers, up 1% from last year. However, ESPN2 saw its primetime audience drop 30% and ESPNews was down 18%. After a record-setting Q4 last year, Golf Channel got off to a slower start in October, with primetime audience down 33% and total-day down 30%.

PRIMETIME VIEWERSHIP IN OCTOBER
NETWORK	'12 (000)	'11 (000)	% +/-
ESPN	3,102	3,079	1%
NFL Network	931	155	501%
ESPN2	455	649	-30%
Speed	119	194	-39%
NBA TV	96	29	231%
ESPNews	78	95	-18%
MLB Network	77	63	22%
Golf Channel	72	108	-33%
NBC Sports Net	72	190	-62%
Fuel TV	35	14	150%
Fox Soccer	26	37	-30%
TOTAL-DAY VIEWERSHIP IN OCTOBER
NETWORK	'12 (000)	'11 (000)	% +/-
ESPN	1,235	1,288	-4%
ESPN2	278	346	-20%
NFL Network	276	119	132%
Speed	96	123	-22%
MLB Network	63	40	58%
ESPNews	56	68	-18%
NBA TV	49	17	188%
Golf Channel	48	69	-30%
NBC Sports Net	38	69	-45%
Fox Soccer	25	29	-14%
Fuel TV	16	7	129%