Cable Network Coverage Estimates - December 2009

Categories: TV Ratings Reference

(33) Comments - Add Yours!

1. Julia

   Posted December 28, 2009 at 12:49 PM

   In the current economy, I find it most interesting to compare the premium channels. Encore and Starz fell a bit, Showtime and HBO went up a bit. Not sure what to read into that, but it’s interesting (to me) to note.

2. Drew C.

   Posted December 28, 2009 at 1:24 PM

   Perhaps the success of True Blood for HBO and Dexter for Showtime influenced the rise in subscribers? Although I understand how risky pinning a network’s success onto a mere hour of programming is…

3. Patrick

   Posted December 28, 2009 at 2:48 PM

   Notice the Versus drop from 75 to 63, which I assume is due to the loss of DirecTV HHs.

4. Brian

   Posted December 28, 2009 at 4:43 PM

   What about GolTV?

5. Lester's Fan

   Posted December 28, 2009 at 5:55 PM

   What’s the difference between showtime and showtime prime?

6. Jim

   Posted December 28, 2009 at 6:45 PM

   I wonder how many households Boomerang is in.

7. anonymous

   Posted December 29, 2009 at 7:48 AM

   I second Lester’s Fan question and add another question.

   According to this list, Starz has 21 M subscribers. But in the official release when talking about their shows, they (Starz) claim to have 17 M subscribers. How is that possible? I’m a bit slow on this.

   As I’ve pointed out some days ago, the same can be said for Showtime. Why some reports claim 17 M subscribers and others 22M? Which should I believe?

8. Robert Seidman

   Posted December 29, 2009 at 8:04 AM

   As for the difference between Showtime and Showtime Prime it’s not much, and the designations are confusing. “Showtime” = the complete multiplexed Showtime offering for all the Showtime branded cable networks (Showtime 2, Sho Women, etc), while Showtime Prime is just the primary Showtime and that homes counted in Showtime Prime are also counted in “Showtime”. That’s easier to see with HBO Prime and HBO The Works.

   In terms of calculating the number of PAID subscribers I would trust the networks themselves more, though not necessarily from the boiler plate of press releases. But due to promotional deals with the various cable and satellite companies its possible there are more subscribers than the “paid” subscribers. I got Starz free for 6 months once and while I’m sure they were paid something, who knows how they (Starz) counted me. Some of the discrepancy is likely that Nielsen is calculating the number of homes the network is available in, while in that example, Starz is just counting paid subscriptions.

9. DuMont

   Posted December 29, 2009 at 8:16 AM

   Does anybody know the coverage for the American Life network and Turner Classic Movies (TCM)?

10. Cimmer

    Posted December 29, 2009 at 8:49 AM

    Wow, that’s a nice jump for USA. They’re in a good spot with their programming, I wonder if they’re going to be able to keep it up? Royal Pains and White Collar are nice fluffy entertainment so far, but will they be able to come up with another Monk? Or even a Burn Notice? Long term consistency always seems to be any network’s bugaboo. Still, thumbs up, they’re on a roll.

11. anonymous

    Posted December 29, 2009 at 3:12 PM

    Thank you very much Robert for your comprehensive answer!
    About the discrepancy btw the subscribers numbers, what I find odd is the difference in the numbers (17M vs. 22M). I mean, all these added people come from promotional deals?