Networks (not just sports networks) continued to shed homes in Nielsen’s February cable coverage estimates.. Among sports networks FS2 was the only network to not suffer drops versus the December estimates. And for the first time in recent memory, ESPN actually increased its lead over FS1 in household coverage because FS1’s losses outpaced ESPN’s. Over the past year or so FS1 had managed to gain ground on ESPN simply by shedding fewer households than ESPN.

**DO THESE NUMBERS INCLUDE STREAMING SERVICES LIKE SlingTV, Vue and DirecTV Now?**

In the past that was a simple question to answer. The answer was “no.” Some people didn’t like it but it was simple! December was the last month that was the case though.

Starting with the January estimates (I didn’t post those on the website though I did tweet out some of those numbers last month) the answer changed to “Yes….kind of.”

I applaud Nielsen for plowing ahead though I don’t know that I’d have gone ahead and started when I only had 6 (January estimates) or 21 (February estimates) households that I could sample. By comparison the national TV panel has around 40,000 homes in it with around 100,000 participants. OK, I do know that I absolutely would not have gone ahead and started when I only had 21 homes. But one great thing about being a de facto monopoly is not having to sweat little stuff like this!

**Nielsen plans to grow the alternate MPVD services (streaming services like SlingTV, Vue, DirecTV Now) participation rapidly over the next 6 months.**

Two tables below: first the February estimates for the cable sports networks (stick to sports!) and those sports networks’ change versus the December estimates. The second table is the coverage estimates for all nationally measured cable networks.

Nielsen cable (includes satellite & telco services) coverage estimates for the nationally measured cable sports networks for December 2016:

If you’re on a mobile phone these tables should be much easier to read if you tilt your phone to landscape mode.

Network name Dec 2016 Estimate (000) Feb 2017 Estimate (000) Change Since Dec (000) BEIN SPORT 23,317 22,744 (573) BEIN SPORT ESPANOL 18,267 18,209 (58) ESPN 88,401 87,859 (542) ESPN2 88,283 87,731 (552) ESPNU 69,815 69,207 (608) FOX DEPORTES 21,795 21,359 (436) FS1 85,358 84,724 (634) FS2 50,334 50,569 235 GOLF CHANNEL 77,638 76,399 (1,239) MLB NETWORK 65,503 64,413 (1,090) NBA-TV 52,654 51,728 (926) NBC SPORTS NETWORK 83,197 82,483 (714) NFL NETWORK 71,612 71,252 (360) UNIVISION DEPORTES 47,154 46,719 (435) Total Cable 98,103 97,341 (762) Nielsen cable coverage estimates via friends at networks and not directly from Nielsen via @SportsTVRatings

Network name Feb 2017 Estimated # of Homes (000) Coverage % A&E NETWORK 90,478 76% ADULT SWIM 91,069 77% AMC 90,767 77% AMERICAN HEROES CHANNEL (Formerly MILITARY CHANNEL) 54,559 46% ANIMAL PLANET 89,406 76% BABY FIRST TV 53,878 46% BBC-AMERICA 80,044 68% BEIN SPORT 22,744 19% BEIN SPORT ESPANOL 18,209 15% BLACK ENTERTAINMENT TV 84,415 71% BOOMERANG 42,929 36% BRAVO 87,620 74% CENTRIC 50,910 43% CHILLER 36,298 31% CLOO (Formerly SLEUTH) 0% CMT 76,025 64% CNBC 88,527 75% CNN (Formerly CABLE NEWS NETWORK) 91,794 78% CNN / HLN 92,855 78% COMEDY CENTRAL 89,857 76% COOKING CHANNEL (Formerly FINE LIVING) 64,598 55% DESTINATION AMERICA (Formerly PLANET GREEN) 53,388 45% DISCOVERY CHANNEL 91,829 78% DISCOVERY EN ESPANOL 6,386 5% DISCOVERY FAMILIA 5,702 5% DISCOVERY FAMILY CHANNEL (Formerly THE HUB) 62,873 53% DISCOVERY LIFE CHANNEL (Formerly DISCOVERY FIT & HEALTH) 47,011 40% DISNEY CHANNEL 91,611 77% DISNEY JUNIOR 72,761 61% DISNEY XD (Formerly TOON DISNEY) 75,401 64% DIY NETWORK 58,799 50% E! ENTERTAINMENT TV 89,887 76% EL REY 44,925 38% ESPN 87,859 74% ESPN2 87,731 74% ESPNU 69,207 58% ESQUIRE NETWORK (Formerly STYLE) 45,219 38% FM (formerly NUVO TV) 38,920 33% FOOD NETWORK 93,062 79% FOX BUSINESS NETWORK 84,266 71% FOX DEPORTES 21,359 18% FOX NEWS CHANNEL 89,924 76% FOX SPORTS 1 84,724 72% FOX SPORTS 2 50,569 43% FREEFORM (Formerly ABC FAMILY) 89,525 76% FUSE 64,773 55% FX 90,389 76% FX MOVIE CHANNEL 56,345 48% FXX (Formerly FOX SOCCER CHANNEL) 84,910 72% FYI (Formerly BIOGRAPHY CHANNEL) 64,659 55% GALAVISION 67,215 57% GOLF CHANNEL 76,399 65% GREAT AMERICAN COUNTRY 56,807 48% GSN 76,493 65% HALLMARK CHANNEL 88,885 75% HALLMARK MOVIES & MYSTERIES (Formerly HALLMARK MOVIE CHANNEL) 66,829 56% HBO - THE WORKS 34,369 29% HBO PRIME 33,856 29% HEADLINE NEWS 91,056 77% HISTORY 91,107 77% HOME AND GARDEN TV 91,169 77% IFC TV (Formerly INDEPENDENT FILM CHANNEL) 72,017 61% INSP (Formerly THE INSPIRATIONAL NETWORK) 81,662 69% INVESTIGATION DISCOVERY (Formerly DISCOVERY TIMES) 85,113 72% LIFETIME MOVIE NETWORK 76,423 65% LIFETIME TELEVISION 90,544 76% LOGO 48,646 41% MAXPRIME 20,466 17% MLB NETWORK 64,413 54% MSNBC 89,764 76% MTV (Formerly MTV: MUSIC TELEVISION) 88,137 74% MTV2 75,962 64% MTV CLASSIC (Formerly VH1 CLASSIC) 53,009 45% MULTIMAX 20,745 18% NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC (Formerly NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHNL) 89,865 76% NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC WILD 56,189 47% NBA-TV 51,728 44% NBC SPORTS NETWORK 82,483 70% NBC UNIVERSO (Formerly MUN2 CABLE) 42,748 36% NFL NETWORK 71,252 60% NICK JR (Formerly NOGGIN) 72,113 61% NICK-AT-NITE 89,663 76% NICKELODEON 89,663 76% NICKTOONS 62,792 53% OPRAH WINFREY NETWORK (Formerly Discovery Health) 78,420 66% OUTDOOR CHANNEL 38,683 33% OVATION NETWORK 47,602 40% OXYGEN MEDIA 75,651 64% POP (Formerly TV GUIDE NETWORK) 73,776 62% REELZCHANNEL 65,453 55% RFD-TV 43,635 37% SCIENCE (Formerly SCIENCE CHANNEL) 69,024 58% SHOWTIME 29,014 25% SHOWTIME PRIME 28,771 24% SMITHSONIAN 37,275 31% SPIKE TV 84,040 71% SPORTSMAN CHANNEL 31,557 27% SPROUT 58,629 50% STARZ 30,831 26% STARZ ENCORE (Formerly ENCORE) 38,195 32% STARZ ENCORE PRIMARY (Formerly ENCORE PRIMARY) 36,046 30% STARZ PRIMARY 29,635 25% SUNDANCE TV (Formerly SUNDANCE CHANNEL) 65,916 56% SYFY 89,854 76% TBS NETWORK 91,995 78% TEENNICK (Formerly THE N) 69,069 58% THE CARTOON NETWORK 91,069 77% THE TENNIS CHANNEL 44,361 37% THE WEATHER CHANNEL 84,683 72% TLC 90,215 76% TRAVEL CHANNEL 84,862 72% TRU TV (Formerly COURT TV) 87,204 74% TURNER NETWORK TELEVISION 90,586 77% TV LAND 87,901 74% TV LAND CLASSIC 87,901 74% TV ONE 59,641 50% UNIVISION DEPORTES 46,719 39% UP (Formerly GMC) 69,733 59% USA NETWORK 91,726 77% VELOCITY (Formerly HD THEATER) 71,273 60% VH1 88,085 74% VICELAND 72,798 61% WE TV (Formerly Womens Entertainment) 86,605 73% WGN AMERICA (Formerly Superstation WGN) 79,135 67% Z LIVING 20,529 17%

All data ©Nielsen (data provided by a variety of TV network sources and not directly from Nielsen)

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