ESPN is in 99 million U.S. homes in December, down slightly from the start of the year, when the net was in 99.8 million homes. ESPN had a six-month run from February-July when it was in more than 100 million homes, but it did not reach that mark again. The net's low point for the year was 98.6 million homes in October. ESPN2 will finish the year in 98.9 million homes, down from 99.7 million in January. The net also had three months during '11 where distribution was over the 100-million mark. The Weather Channel is the only cable net ending '11 in more than 100 million homes. MLB Network saw the most distribution growth among any cable net this year, while Fox Soccer also saw strong gains. As the NBA season gets set to begin later this month, NBA TV is in 55.3 million homes, up 2.4% from the same period last year. Meanwhile, Fuel TV passed ESPN Classic for the first time since the net became rated in April. Listed below are the top 10 cable networks in terms of U.S. household distribution, along with figures for sports nets.
| CABLE NETWORK DISTRIBUTION IN THE U.S. FOR DECEMBER |
| NETWORK | '06 (000) | '07 (000) | '08 (000) | '09 (000) | '10 (000) | '11 (000) |
| The Weather Channel | 91,791 | 96,463 | 98,691 | 99,787 | 100,588 | 100,024 |
| TBS | 91,528 | 97,201 | 98,905 | 100,146 | 101,002 | 99,928 |
| Discovery Channel | 92,358 | 96,696 | 98,594 | 99,837 | 100,517 | 99,654 |
| Food Network | 90,891 | 95,547 | 97,817 | 99,243 | 100,193 | 99,592 |
| Nick-At-Nite | 91,799 | 96,331 | 98,343 | 99,590 | 100,353 | 99,502 |
| Nickelodeon | 91,799 | 96,331 | 98,343 | 99,590 | 100,353 | 99,502 |
| USA | 91,930 | 96,227 | 98,268 | 99,174 | 100,016 | 99,361 |
| CNN | 92,046 | 96,403 | 98,279 | 99,299 | 100,108 | 99,179 |
| TNT | 91,969 | 96,272 | 98,018 | 99,143 | 100,445 | 99,131 |
| A&E | 91,553 | 96,070 | 97,834 | 98,919 | 99,802 | 99,108 |
| ESPN | 92,216 | 96,385 | 98,006 | 99,065 | 99,844 | 99,032 |
| ESPN2 | 91,646 | 96,043 | 97,585 | 98,770 | 99,723 | 98,938 |
| FX | 89,995 | 94,428 | 95,141 | 95,845 | 95,854 | 98,039 |
| Golf Channel | 73,915 | 75,776 | 81,566 | 81,786 | 83,189 | 84,013 |
| Speed | 69,062 | 72,447 | 73,107 | 74,667 | 77,236 | 78,675 |
| Versus | 71,041 | 73,223 | 74,128 | 63,379 | 75,187 | 75,740 |
| ESPNews | 53,515 | 62,614 | 67,750 | 70,818 | 73,449 | 73,880 |
| ESPNU | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 72,508 | 72,427 |
| MLB Network | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 55,274 | 67,346 |
| NFL Network | 38,875 | 43,094 | 41,736 | 54,722 | 56,875 | 57,586 |
| NBA TV | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 54,021 | 55,293 |
| Fox Soccer | n/a | n/a | 34,527 | 35,532 | 38,419 | 40,557 |
| Fuel TV | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 36,414 |
| ESPN Classic | 63,463 | 63,166 | 63,259 | 60,580 | 39,727 | 32,455 |
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NOTES: Distribution not listed for nets that do not subscribe to daily Nielsen Co. ratings. Among those nets not listed are NHL Network, Universal Sports, CBS Sports Network, Tennis Channel, Fox College Sports and the Big Ten Network.
