ESPN Audience In '13 Lowest Since '08; MLB Net, NFL Net See Record Viewership

ESPN averaged 2.21 million viewers in primetime during '13 and 975,000 viewers on a total-day basis, marking the net's lowest figures since '08. ESPN was down 6% in primetime compared to '12, while down 4% for total-day viewership. Despite the drop, ESPN was third among all cable nets in primetime, behind only USA Network and Disney Channel. The net ranked 10th overall in total-day audience. NFL Network and MLB Network both saw record primetime and total-day audiences in '13. NFL Net was boosted by another record-setting season of NFL regular-season game telecasts. MLB Net had a similar record-breaking season for its regular-season game telecasts. The net's primetime audience was up 33% and total-day was up 28%. The net also had total-day audience records in 11 of 12 months. Golf Channel had its third-straight year of record-setting total-day viewership. The net set records in Q1, Q2 and Q3, while breaking monthly records in January, February, March, April, May, August and October. Every major tour also saw year-over-year gains on Golf Channel -- including record viewership for the Web.com, Champions and European Tours. NBCSN benefited from the return of hockey in the fall. Primetime viewership for the net in '13 was up 15%, while total-day was up 57%. FS1, which launched on Aug. 17 on what was the old Speed channel, was up 22% in primetime compared to what Speed averaged alone in '12. Total day audience for FS1 was also up 2%.

CABLE SPORTS NET PRIMETIME VIEWERSHIP NETWORK '13 (000) '12 (000) '11 (000) '10 (000) '09 (000) '08 (000) ESPN 2,210 2,343 2,342 2,400 2,303 2,069 ESPN2 489 476 541 634 693 644 NFL Network 406 381 285 258 224 176 NBCSN 280 244 293 279 307 279 FS1/Speed* 246 202 237 228 280 274 Golf Channel 142 139 152 119 147 131 MLB Network 141 106 109 n/a n/a n/a NBA TV 118 123 80 n/a n/a n/a ESPNews 105 102 95 87 84 85 FS2/Fuel TV* 37 40 n/a n/a n/a n/a CABLE SPORTS NET TOTAL-DAY VIEWERSHIP NETWORK '13 (000) '12 (000) '11 (000) '10 (000) '09 (000) '08 (000) ESPN 975 1,020 1,037 1,083 1,004 921 ESPN2 277 285 310 337 333 325 NFL Network 163 152 128 114 97 80 NBCSN 163 104 95 98 120 107 FS1/Speed* 123 121 139 138 160 150 Golf Channel 110 96 91 71 88 77 MLB Network 68 53 49 n/a n/a n/a ESPNews 65 67 61 64 64 66 NBA TV 55 60 38 n/a n/a n/a FS2/Fuel TV* 23 21 n/a n/a n/a n/a















NOTES: The measuring period for the most-recent Nielsen calendar was Dec. 31, 2012 through Dec. 29, 2013. The prior year was Dec. 26, 2011 through Dec. 30, 2012. * = Speed became FS1 on Aug. 17, and Fuel TV became FS2.