Although the NFL Network tends to be an afterthought during the off-season (if there is such a thing anymore), recent developments may hurt its standing from September-February.
Nielsen Media recently released its universe estimates for cable channels as of June 2008 and the news is not good for NFLN.
At the start of the 2007 regular season, NFLN was in just over 44 million homes - its highest levels of the year. However, just nine months later, the NFLN universe has dwindled to just over 40 million homes, among the lowest levels since Nielsen began tracking NFLN distribution in November 2006.
The most recent blow to NFLN came from Dish Network, which moved the channel from its Top 100 package to the Top 200. This is estimated to have cost NFLN about 4 million subs. This comes on the heels of the neverending Comcast dispute, as well as issues with numerous other MSOs.
To put this number in some further context, consider these channels - all of whom have wider distribution than NLFN:
Fox Business Network: 41.8 million homes
- Although it launched just over 7 months ago, FBN has made huge initial distribition strides
FIT TV: 43.2 million homes
- Saw this on at the gym a few times. Not sure what it is, but they run Gilad shows.
VH1 Classic: 52.6 million homes
BBC America: 60 million homes
ESPN Classic: 62.7 million homes
- These are some of the least-watched ad-supported cable channels with significant distribution.
Also, several other sports-themed channels (Golf, Versus, Speed) are in about 35 million more homes than NFLN - that’s nearly double the distribution.
Without a resolution to these carriage limitations, NFLN will continue to struggle.
Entries (RSS)