Here are the Nielsen U.S. cable channel (includes satellite & telco providers too) coverage estimates as of August 2013. To clarify after some questions, these are the number of households that actually receive each network, not the number that are simply eligible to receive them.
Note: these estimates were made before CurrentTV changed over to Al Jazeera America (and before Uverse dumped the channel) and also before Showtime was pulled off of Time Warner Cable do to its dispute with CBS.
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| Station Name | Estimated # of Homes (000) | Coverage % |
| A&E NETWORK | 98,302 | 86.08 |
| ABC FAMILY | 96,462 | 84.47 |
| ADULT SWIM | 98,671 | 86.40 |
| AMC | 97,699 | 85.55 |
| ANIMAL PLANET | 96,223 | 84.26 |
| BBC-AMERICA | 80,066 | 70.11 |
| BIOGRAPHY CHANNEL | 68,007 | 59.55 |
| BLACK ENTERTAINMENT TV | 91,159 | 79.82 |
| BRAVO | 94,129 | 82.42 |
| CABLE NEWS NETWORK | 98,496 | 86.25 |
| CENTRIC | 51,953 | 45.49 |
| CHILLER | 42,227 | 36.98 |
| CLOO (formerly SLEUTH) | 33,640 | 29.46 |
| CMT | 91,249 | 79.90 |
| CNBC | 96,242 | 84.27 |
| CNN / HLN | 99,292 | 86.95 |
| COMEDY CENTRAL | 97,838 | 85.67 |
| COOKING CHANNEL (formerly FINE LIVING) | 60,718 | 53.17 |
| CURRENT TV | 48,178 | 42.19 |
| DESTINATION AMERICA (formerly PLANET GREEN) | 59,616 | 52.20 |
| DISCOVERY CHANNEL | 98,891 | 86.59 |
| DISCOVERY EN ESPANOL | 7,311 | 6.40 |
| DISCOVERY FIT & HEALTH (formerly FIT TV) | 48,852 | 42.78 |
| DISNEY CHANNEL | 98,142 | 85.94 |
| DISNEY JUNIOR | 61,005 | 53.42 |
| DISNEY XD (formerly TOON DISNEY) | 80,864 | 70.81 |
| DIY NETWORK | 58,592 | 51.31 |
| E! ENTERTAINMENT TV | 96,472 | 84.48 |
| ENCORE | 41,696 | 36.51 |
| ENCORE PRIMARY | 40,621 | 35.57 |
| ESPN | 97,736 | 85.58 |
| ESPN CLASSIC | 30,715 | 26.90 |
| ESPN2 | 97,717 | 85.57 |
| ESPNEWS | 74,784 | 65.49 |
| ESPNU | 74,445 | 65.19 |
| FOOD NETWORK | 99,283 | 86.94 |
| FOX BUSINESS NETWORK | 75,501 | 66.11 |
| FOX DEPORTES | 20,599 | 18.04 |
| FOX NEWS CHANNEL | 97,186 | 85.10 |
| FOX SOCCER CHANNEL | 52,982 | 46.39 |
| Fox Sports 1 (formerly Speed) | 85,798 | 75.13 |
| Fox Sports 2 (formerly FUEL) | 37,707 | 33.02 |
| FUSE | 73,008 | 63.93 |
| FX | 97,157 | 85.08 |
| FX MOVIE CHANNEL | 49,799 | 43.61 |
| G4 | 61,217 | 53.61 |
| GALAVISION | 68,167 | 59.69 |
| GOLF CHANNEL | 82,089 | 71.88 |
| GREAT AMERICAN COUNTRY | 62,914 | 55.09 |
| GSN | 77,431 | 67.80 |
| H2 (formerly HISTORY INTERNATIONAL) | 68,489 | 59.97 |
| HALLMARK CHANNEL | 85,897 | 75.22 |
| HALLMARK MOVIE CHANNEL | 51,668 | 45.24 |
| HBO - THE WORKS | 32,445 | 28.41 |
| HBO PRIME | 32,144 | 28.15 |
| HEADLINE NEWS | 98,010 | 85.82 |
| HISTORY | 98,226 | 86.01 |
| HOME AND GARDEN TV | 98,229 | 86.01 |
| INDEPENDENT FILM CHANNEL | 69,517 | 60.87 |
| INVESTIGATION DISCOVERY (formerly DISCOVERY TIMES) | 84,289 | 73.81 |
| LIFETIME MOVIE NETWORK | 83,933 | 73.50 |
| LIFETIME TELEVISION | 98,251 | 86.03 |
| LOGO | 52,204 | 45.71 |
| MAXPRIME | 20,226 | 17.71 |
| MILITARY CHANNEL | 62,255 | 54.51 |
| MLB NETWORK | 70,043 | 61.33 |
| MSNBC | 94,519 | 82.77 |
| MTV: MUSIC TELEVISION | 97,654 | 85.51 |
| MTV2 | 81,185 | 71.09 |
| MULTIMAX | 20,471 | 17.93 |
| MUN2 CABLE | 39,888 | 34.93 |
| NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC WILD | 57,833 | 50.64 |
| NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHNL | 84,446 | 73.95 |
| NBA-TV | 59,721 | 52.30 |
| NBC SPORTS NETWORK | 77,746 | 68.08 |
| NFL NETWORK | 70,910 | 62.09 |
| NICK-AT-NITE | 98,799 | 86.51 |
| NICKELODEON | 98,799 | 86.51 |
| NICKTOONS | 67,950 | 59.50 |
| NICK JR (formerly NOGGIN) | 76,389 | 66.89 |
| NUVO TV | 32,735 | 28.66 |
| OPRAH WINFREY NETWORK (formerly Discovery Health) | 83,261 | 72.91 |
| OUTDOOR CHANNEL | 39,175 | 34.30 |
| OVATION NETWORK | 43,412 | 38.01 |
| OXYGEN MEDIA | 78,208 | 68.48 |
| REELZCHANNEL | 66,739 | 58.44 |
| RFD-TV | 40,699 | 35.64 |
| SCIENCE (formerly SCIENCE CHANNEL) | 76,804 | 67.25 |
| SHOWTIME | 28,094 | 24.60 |
| SHOWTIME PRIME | 27,867 | 24.40 |
| SOAPNET | 66,352 | 58.10 |
| SPIKE TV | 97,639 | 85.50 |
| SPORTSMAN CHANNEL | 31,822 | 27.87 |
| SPROUT | 55,218 | 48.35 |
| STARZ | 29,141 | 25.52 |
| STARZ PRIMARY | 28,436 | 24.90 |
| STYLE | 73,579 | 64.43 |
| SYFY | 97,447 | 85.33 |
| TBS NETWORK | 99,231 | 86.89 |
| TeenNick (formerly THE N) | 73,443 | 64.31 |
| THE CARTOON NETWORK | 98,671 | 86.40 |
| THE HUB (formerly DISCOVERY KIDS) | 72,237 | 63.25 |
| THE INSPIRATIONAL NETWORK | 74,631 | 65.35 |
| THE WEATHER CHANNEL | 99,926 | 87.50 |
| TLC | 97,842 | 85.68 |
| TRAVEL CHANNEL | 94,418 | 82.68 |
| TR3S | 36,301 | 31.79 |
| TRU TV (formerly COURT TV) | 91,197 | 79.86 |
| TURNER NETWORK TELEVISION | 98,139 | 85.94 |
| TV GUIDE NETWORK | 77,294 | 67.68 |
| TV LAND | 96,282 | 84.31 |
| TV ONE | 57,419 | 50.28 |
| UP (Formerly GMC) | 60,858 | 53.29 |
| USA NETWORK | 98,647 | 86.38 |
| VELOCITY (Formerly HD THEATER) | 52,271 | 45.77 |
| VH1 | 96,786 | 84.75 |
| VH1 CLASSIC | 61,717 | 54.04 |
| WE:WOMENS ENTERTAINMENT | 83,151 | 72.81 |
| WGN AMERICA (formerly Superstation WGN) | 73,969 | 64.77 |
| TOTAL CABLE PLUS | 103,241 | 90.40 |
| TOTAL WIRED CABLE | 68,033 | 59.57 |
| CABLE PLUS W/ PAY | 55,719 | 48.79 |
| WIRED CABLE W/ PAY | 37,031 | 32.43 |
| ADS | 35,833 | 31.38 |
| TOTAL U.S. | 114,200 | |
| ©2013 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved. |
Weather Channel won by half a million over CNN and Food Network.
Wow, considering the number of people that actually have HBO and Showtime, their scripted shows are real successes.
No Sundance or CBSSN?
Turner Classic Movies?
I’m confused by this. How can all these channels by in less than 100000 homes? How can million people watch the duck dynasty premiere or two million pll every week?
@Michael
Numbers are in millions.
So most of the networks like Disney channel or history which has over 90 million homes , how come they get low views, and when I say low I mean compared to how many houses actually have the channel
@Ryan, TBFL – these are only the Nielsen rated networks. TCM, CBSSN and Sundance are not rated. But according to the latest reporting I’ve seen, TCM is in 85 million homes, CBSSN 48 million, and Sundance 50 million. Sundance will actually become Nielsen rated in October.
All the big channels have dropped slightly since last year’s list. Cable is stagnating.
As far as Sundance, CBS Sports Network and Turner Clasic Movies, my best guess is for why they aren’t there is because those stations do not subscribe to the Nielsen services that would regularly measure them (which Nick backs up above).
We don’t see those in the regular weekly reporting that includes more than 14,000 cable telecasts either.
Michael: first 10 million is less than 100 million, but you’re mixing apples and oranges which is a pretty common mistake. Coverage measures HOMES, but total viewers measures PEOPLE not homes.
There are only 114.2 million homes (until that’s bumped up to 115.6M any day now) but on average there are about 2.5 people per home so the number of potential viewers is much higher than the number of households.
Wait a second, doesn’t this suggest there are fewer US households than last year (114,200 vs 114,700)? Or is that just households with televisions?
Either way, strange.
Oliver, yes (both of the numbers were only households with televisions) though it’s going to go up to 115.6 million (to also include any homes who only watch programming via streaming) any moment now.
@Robert Seidman
I think Michael is confused because the totals appear to be expressed in thousands, but it does not say that anywhere on the table.
What I really find amazing, and people don’t get, is if there are say 98 million households for a certain channel with an average of just say 2 viewers per household, means there could be nearly 2 hundred million people to watch a given show. Then when the ratings come in and a show attracts 10 million viewers all the networks scream success. Really??? Not so sure….. It’s sort of scary the number of choices we have all the time.
@Michael: ah, my bad. fixed, thanks.
Some of those logos are really old and outdated….lol.
Remember: Fox Soccer Channel will become FXX very shortly.
@romo: numbers are recent at least. but yeah, the graphic is really old and outdated like me.
@Rob So most of the networks like Disney channel or history which has over 90 million homes , how come they get low views, and when I say low I mean compared to how many houses actually have the channel
@Nick, Robert Does that mean we’ll finally get the ratings for Rectify along with The Red Road come 2014?
@Nicole, Disney probably gets most of it’s viewers during the day since it’s targeted towards kids therefore the night programming won’t gather many views. Also gotta take into account Nielsen isn’t in every home. So of those 90 million viewers, maybe about 10& of those are actually counted in the reports. That’s one reason why you may see the lower rated shows (see: AMC unscripted slate, The Killing, CW shows, etc) continue with ratings that would get it pulled from the big 4 in a heartbeat.