Frequent commenter "Mikey" provided us with some data that allows you to derive the relative price/value of cable channels based on what the cable networks charge per subscriber compared to the ratings. Here were Mikey's disclaimers:
The HH Rtg for each network is a total day (6a-2a) rating from Jan 1 2008 to mid-August.
I simply divided the monthly subscriber fees, which are from a credible source that I can't name, by the total day rating to come up with a "cost per tenth of a rating point"
In fairness to NFL Network and ESPN, this chart was produced in August so no NFL games are included. The NFL season will obviously help their ratings, although I would bet that in a year-end update of this chart they would still be the two least efficient channels on television.
The broadcast networks are not included because their sub fee is generally zero.
| Network | HH RTG | Cost/Sub | Cost/.1 RTG |
| NFLN | 0.11 | 0.83 | 0.74 |
| ESPN | 0.69 | 3.65 | 0.53 |
| ESPCL | 0.06 | 0.17 | 0.30 |
| GOLF | 0.11 | 0.25 | 0.23 |
| VS | 0.12 | 0.27 | 0.23 |
| FUSE | 0.04 | 0.08 | 0.20 |
| ESPN2 | 0.27 | 0.52 | 0.19 |
| ENN | 0.09 | 0.16 | 0.17 |
| VH1C | 0.04 | 0.06 | 0.14 |
| FNLVG | 0.04 | 0.05 | 0.13 |
| CNBC | 0.23 | 0.27 | 0.12 |
| BBCA | 0.10 | 0.11 | 0.11 |
| MUN2 | 0.09 | 0.10 | 0.11 |
| SPD | 0.19 | 0.19 | 0.10 |
| CNN | 0.52 | 0.47 | 0.09 |
| STYL | 0.16 | 0.14 | 0.09 |
| TNT | 1.09 | 0.93 | 0.09 |
| DHLT | 0.17 | 0.14 | 0.08 |
| NGC | 0.27 | 0.20 | 0.08 |
| SOAP | 0.20 | 0.14 | 0.07 |
| ENT | 0.31 | 0.22 | 0.07 |
| G4 | 0.12 | 0.08 | 0.07 |
| FX | 0.59 | 0.37 | 0.06 |
| MTV | 0.51 | 0.32 | 0.06 |
| TBSC | 0.80 | 0.46 | 0.06 |
| THEN | 0.16 | 0.09 | 0.06 |
| BRVO | 0.31 | 0.17 | 0.05 |
| WE | 0.19 | 0.10 | 0.05 |
| MIL | 0.13 | 0.07 | 0.05 |
| BIO | 0.19 | 0.10 | 0.05 |
| FOXNC | 0.81 | 0.42 | 0.05 |
| TDSNY | 0.24 | 0.12 | 0.05 |
| DSCI | 0.14 | 0.07 | 0.05 |
| DIY | 0.10 | 0.05 | 0.05 |
| TWC | 0.23 | 0.11 | 0.05 |
| AMC | 0.50 | 0.23 | 0.05 |
| USA | 1.16 | 0.52 | 0.05 |
| DISC | 0.59 | 0.26 | 0.04 |
| CMT | 0.18 | 0.08 | 0.04 |
| GSN | 0.25 | 0.11 | 0.04 |
| TLC | 0.41 | 0.17 | 0.04 |
| MSNBC | 0.36 | 0.15 | 0.04 |
| VH1 | 0.35 | 0.14 | 0.04 |
| WGNA | 0.30 | 0.12 | 0.04 |
| SCIFI | 0.52 | 0.20 | 0.04 |
| AEN | 0.67 | 0.25 | 0.04 |
| BET | 0.41 | 0.15 | 0.04 |
| HI | 0.16 | 0.06 | 0.04 |
| ID | 0.22 | 0.08 | 0.04 |
| SPIKE | 0.57 | 0.20 | 0.04 |
| FAM | 0.61 | 0.21 | 0.03 |
| HIST | 0.61 | 0.21 | 0.03 |
| OXYG | 0.26 | 0.09 | 0.03 |
| OUTD | 0.12 | 0.04 | 0.03 |
| TRAV | 0.19 | 0.06 | 0.03 |
| LIF | 0.78 | 0.25 | 0.03 |
| NKTNS | 0.20 | 0.06 | 0.03 |
| NICK\NAN | 1.64 | 0.45 | 0.03 |
| MTV2 | 0.16 | 0.04 | 0.03 |
| APL | 0.28 | 0.07 | 0.03 |
| HGTV | 0.57 | 0.14 | 0.02 |
| CMDY | 0.52 | 0.12 | 0.02 |
| GAC | 0.09 | 0.02 | 0.02 |
| TV1 | 0.19 | 0.04 | 0.02 |
| TVL | 0.52 | 0.10 | 0.02 |
| TOON\ADSM | 0.90 | 0.16 | 0.02 |
| TVGN | 0.12 | 0.02 | 0.02 |
| LMN | 0.55 | 0.09 | 0.02 |
| GALA | 0.13 | 0.02 | 0.01 |
| FOOD | 0.50 | 0.07 | 0.01 |
| TRU | 0.65 | 0.09 | 0.01 |
| RFD | 0.08 | 0.01 | 0.01 |
| HALL | 0.71 | 0.06 | 0.01 |
So which ones are the Viacom networks? I know Cartoon Network, Comedy Central, the various Nicks, but what else? Do they have MTV or VH1? I know it’s one of them, but I can’t remember which.
both!
Spike, CMT and more…
http://www.viacom.com/OURBRANDS/Pages/default.aspx
Wow. Basically all of cable except TNT, TBS and USA. And the news nets.
Somehow I missed this post in the light posting period! Viacom does own a large chunk of cable – but NBCU owns a sizeable portion too: USA, Bravo, SciFi, Telemundo, Universal HD, Sleuth, Oxygen, and a couple others I can’t recall. NBCU may have been helped by a Viacom mess, as their stations would be unaffected?
What is the Cost/Subscriber/Month for TCM?. Thank you.
Harold, we only have data for the channels we posted above, sorry.