ESPN's domestic distribution in August dipped just below the 100 million home mark for the first time since January, coming in at 99.8 million households. ESPN2 also dipped below 100 million homes after again hitting the century mark in July. NFL Network will pass the 60 million home mark for the first time after a deal was reached with Charter Communications a few days ago. Among all cable networks, TBS continues to see the most distribution with just over 101 million homes in August, down slightly from July. FX, which will air college football games beginning this fall, is in 99.2 million homes in August, ranking the channel 25th among all cable networks. G4 Network, which has been mentioned as a possible acquisition for UFC, is in 60.1 million homes in August, down almost 15% from the same period last year. Listed below is distribution for the top 10 cable networks in August, along with other networks that air sports programming.
| U.S. CABLE NET DISTRIBUTION FOR AUGUST |
| NET | '06
(000) | '07
(000) | '08
(000) | '09
(000) | '10
(000) | '11
(000) |
| TBS | 90,569 | 93,992 | 96,792 | 99,432 | 100,601 | 101,033 |
| The Weather Channel | 90,584 | 94,354 | 96,277 | 99,389 | 99,890 | 100,933 |
| Discovery Channel | 91,185 | 94,924 | 96,368 | 99,117 | 100,030 | 100,728 |
| Food Network | 89,586 | 93,548 | 95,625 | 98,518 | 99,818 | 100,481 |
| Nick@Nite | 90,558 | 94,312 | 96,154 | 98,957 | 99,995 | 100,428 |
| Nickelodeon | 90,558 | 94,312 | 96,154 | 98,957 | 99,995 | 100,428 |
| USA | 90,861 | 94,397 | 96,078 | 98,740 | 99,404 | 100,293 |
| CNN | 90,944 | 94,607 | 95,977 | 98,771 | 99,578 | 100,148 |
| TNT | 90,871 | 94,448 | 95,923 | 98,608 | 99,563 | 100,086 |
| HLN | 90,197 | 93,906 | 95,867 | 98,682 | 99,563 | 100,064 |
| ESPN | 91,109 | 94,674 | 96,207 | 98,405 | 99,445 | 99,753 |
| SPIKE | 90,524 | 94,039 | 95,634 | 98,127 | 98,718 | 99,685 |
| ESPN2 | 90,586 | 94,332 | 95,625 | 98,016 | 99,373 | 99,617 |
| FX | 88,846 | 92,428 | 93,175 | 95,633 | 96,343 | 99,171 |
| Golf Channel | 69,022 | 75,095 | 74,618 | 81,107 | 82,979 | 83,954 |
| Speed | 67,300 | 71,367 | 72,478 | 73,624 | 76,474 | 78,310 |
| Versus | 69,775 | 72,337 | 72,859 | 75,540 | 74,108 | 76,087 |
| ESPNews | 50,601 | 59,920 | 64,776 | 68,775 | 73,665 | 74,237 |
| ESPNU | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 72,917 |
| NFL Network | n/a | 43,731 | 39,746 | 42,440 | 56,504 | 56,800 |
| MLB Network | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 54,959 | 56,412 |
| NBA TV | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 55,074 |
| Fox Soccer | n/a | n/a | n/a | 34,445 | 36,961 | 39,173 |
| ESPN Classic | 61,485 | 63,085 | 62,412 | 63,702 | 41,761 | 33,663 |
| Fuel TV | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 32,248 |
NOTES: Distribution not listed for networks that do not subscribe to daily Nielsen Co. ratings. Among those networks not listed are NHL Network, Universal Sports, CBS Sports Network, Tennis Channel, Fox College Sports and the Big Ten Network.
