As the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament approaches later this month, TBS, TNT and truTV are each in fewer homes compared to March '13. TBS, which is set to air the national semifinals for the first time, ranks second overall among all cable networks with 98.0 million homes, but that figure is down from 99.7 million homes at the same time last year. TNT is in 96.9 million homes in March, down from 98.8 million homes, while truTV's 90.6 million homes are down from 90.8 million. ESPN is in 96.3 million homes this month, marking the net's lowest distribution figure since August '08. FS1 is in 86.7 million homes, which is the net's lowest mark since it made the conversion from Speed last August. On a positive note, NBCSN this month crossed the 80 million home mark for the first time, which includes years when the net was known as OLN and Versus.
Listed below is distribution for the top 10 cable networks in March, along with comparisons to the same period in previous years. Also listed are cable nets with significant sports programming.
|
CABLE NETWORK DISTRIBUTION FOR THE MONTH OF MARCH
|
| NETWORK |
'06 (000)
|
'09 (000)
|
'12 (000)
|
'13 (000)
|
'14 (000)
|
| Food Network |
88,677
|
98,080
|
99,579
|
99,828
|
98,200
|
| TBS |
89,908
|
99,190
|
99,906
|
99,666
|
98,021
|
| USA Network |
90,190
|
98,507
|
99,272
|
99,191
|
97,755
|
| Discovery Channel |
90,694
|
98,851
|
99,607
|
99,491
|
97,643
|
| Nickelodeon/Nick-at-Nite |
89,937
|
98,601
|
100,138
|
99,434
|
97,599
|
| Cartoon Network/Adult Swim |
89,117
|
97,982
|
98,982
|
99,168
|
97,556
|
| CNN |
90,357
|
98,445
|
99,173
|
99,180
|
97,478
|
| A&E |
89,919
|
97,983
|
98,930
|
99,043
|
97,300
|
| History Channel |
89,087
|
97,618
|
98,630
|
98,871
|
97,172
|
| Lifetime |
90,252
|
98,067
|
98,956
|
98,922
|
97,149
|
| TNT |
90,265
|
98,244
|
99,067
|
98,831
|
96,919
|
| Spike TV |
90,002
|
97,867
|
98,657
|
98,042
|
96,404
|
| ESPN |
90,466
|
98,159
|
99,025
|
98,516
|
96,269
|
| ESPN2 |
89,881
|
97,711
|
98,912
|
98,477
|
96,222
|
| FS1 |
65,754
|
73,329
|
81,943
|
86,248
|
86,710
|
| Golf Channel |
67,851
|
81,016
|
84,552
|
83,256
|
81,093
|
| NBCSN |
63,410
|
74,788
|
76,280
|
78,211
|
80,849
|
| ESPNU |
n/a
|
n/a
|
72,466
|
74,273
|
74,431
|
| ESPNews |
47,490
|
68,113
|
74,173
|
74,907
|
73,807
|
| NFL Network |
n/a
|
41,920
|
59,020
|
70,436
|
72,146
|
| MLB Network |
n/a
|
n/a
|
67,729
|
70,687
|
69,502
|
| NBA TV |
n/a
|
n/a
|
58,944
|
61,040
|
59,533
|
| Outdoor Channel |
26,228
|
29,971
|
37,138
|
39,103
|
38,117
|
| FS2 |
n/a
|
n/a
|
36,545
|
37,361
|
36,748
|
| Univision Deportes |
n/a
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
32,797
|
| Sportsman Channel |
n/a
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
31,662
|
31,605
|
| ESPN Classic |
59,968
|
63,324
|
32,594
|
31,048
|
28,547
|
| Fox Deportes |
n/a
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
19,542
|
21,098
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
NOTES: Instead of counting only homes that have TV sets connected to antennas or to multichannel providers, Nielsen recently started counting broadband-only homes that have a TV connected to a game console or an over-the-top provider. The inclusion of broadband-only homes has resulted in some losses for many top cable networks. Figures also are not available for nets that do not subscribe to regular Nielsen ratings, including Pac-12 Network, Big Ten Network, CBS Sports Network, Longhorn Network, NHL Network, Tennis Channel, ESPN Deportes, beIN Sport and Universal Sports Network.
