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% |
