Commissions Factual? | |||
U.S. TVHH | Genre | ||
TBS | 100,608 | Entertainment | |
CNN / HLN | 100,370 | News | Yes |
DISCOVERY CHANNEL | 100,101 | Factual/Reality | Yes |
NICK-AT-NITE | 100,064 | Entertainment | |
NICKELODEON | 100,064 | Kids | |
THE WEATHER CHANNEL | 100,054 | News | Yes |
FOOD NETWORK | 99,934 | Lifestyle | Yes |
CNN CABLE NEWS NETWORK | 99,640 | News | Yes |
TNT | 99,630 | Entertainment | |
ESPN | 99,612 | Sports | Yes |
HEADLINE NEWS | 99,579 | News | |
USA NETWORK | 99,541 | Entertainment | |
ESPN2 | 99,527 | Sports | |
LIFETIME TELEVISION | 99,336 | Entertainment | Yes |
A&E NETWORK | 99,303 | Entt/Reality | Yes |
HGTV | 99,105 | Lifestyle | Yes |
DISNEY CHANNEL | 99,098 | Kids | |
TLC | 99,041 | Factual/Reality | Yes |
MTV: MUSIC TELEVISION | 98,954 | Music | Yes |
ADULT SWIM | 98,836 | Entertainment | |
THE CARTOON NETWORK | 98,836 | Kids | |
SPIKE TV | 98,816 | Entertainment | Yes |
HISTORY | 98,741 | Factual/Reality | Yes |
COMEDY CENTRAL | 98,537 | Comedy | |
VH1 | 98,431 | Factual/Reality | Yes |
FOX NEWS CHANNEL | 98,393 | News | Yes |
ABC FAMILY | 98,381 | Entertainment | |
CNBC | 97,909 | News | Yes |
TV LAND | 97,713 | Entertainment | |
E! ENTERTAINMENT TV | 97,540 | News | Yes |
SYFY | 97,470 | Entertainment | Yes |
ANIMAL PLANET | 96,851 | Factual/Reality | Yes |
FX | 96,424 | Entertainment | |
AMC | 96,011 | Entertainment | Yes |
TRAVEL CHANNEL | 95,882 | Factual/Reality | Yes |
MSNBC | 94,201 | News | Yes |
BRAVO | 93,717 | Entertainment | Yes |
TRU TV | 92,531 | Factual/Reality | Yes |
CMT | 91,154 | Music | |
BET BLACK ENT’T TV | 90,196 | Entertainment | Yes |
HALLMARK CHANNEL | 89,700 | Entertainment | |
GOLF CHANNEL | 83,469 | Sports | Yes |
TV GUIDE NETWORK | 80,380 | Entertainment | |
MTV2 | 78,472 | Music | |
LIFETIME | 77,756 | Entertainment | |
DISNEY XD | 77,122 | Kids | |
WEtv:WOMENS ENT’T | 76,651 | Factual/Reality | Yes |
OXYGEN MEDIA | 76,418 | Factual/Reality | Yes |
DISCOVERY HEALTH / (OWN) | 75,923 | Factual/Reality | Yes |
Commissions Factual? | |||
U.S. TVHH | Genre | ||
SPEED | 75,713 | Sports | |
SOAPNET | 75,255 | Entertainment | |
VERSUS | 74,091 | Sports | Yes |
NICK JR (formerly NOGGIN) | 73,279 | Kids | |
ESPNEWS | 73,101 | Sports | Yes |
WGN AMERICA | 72,533 | Entertainment | |
GSN | 71,586 | Entertainment | |
ESPNU | 70,802 | Sports | Yes |
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC | 70,639 | Factual/Reality | Yes |
TeenNick (formerly THE N) | 70,220 | Kids | |
G4 | 69,514 | Entertainment | |
FUSE | 67,993 | Music | |
BBC-AMERICA | 67,528 | Factual/Reality | Yes |
SCIENCE CHANNEL | 66,617 | Factual | Yes |
STYLE | 64,678 | Lifestyle | Yes |
ID: INVESTIGATION DISCOVERY | 63,119 | Factual/Reality | Yes |
BIO | 59,524 | Factual/Reality | Yes |
GREAT AMERICAN COUNTRY | 58,713 | Music | |
HISTORY INTERNATIONAL | 58,274 | Factual | NA |
MILITARY CHANNEL | 57,564 | Factual | Yes |
COOKING CHANNEL (formerly FINE LIVING) | 57,328 | Lifestyle | Yes |
GALAVISION | 57,276 | Entertainment | |
VH1 CLASSIC | 56,982 | Music | |
NICKTOONS | 56,979 | Kids | |
FOX BUSINESS NETWORK | 56,421 | News | |
NFL NETWORK | 56,316 | Sports | Yes |
ESPN CLASSIC | 55,468 | Sports | Yes |
MLB NETWORK | 55,323 | Sports | Yes |
DIY NETWORK | 53,734 | Lifestyle | Yes |
TV ONE | 50,354 | Entertainment | |
REELZCHANNEL | 50,176 | Entertainment | |
GOSPEL MUSIC CHANNEL | 47,376 | Music | Yes |
LOGO | 45,629 | Entertainment | Yes |
SUNDANCE CHANNEL | 40,000 | Entertainment | Yes |
RFD-TV | 38,506 | Entertainment | |
FOX SOCCER CHANNEL | 36,503 | Sports | Yes |
OUTDOOR CHANNEL | 36,423 | Lifestyle | Yes |
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC WILD | 35,805 | Factual/Reality | Yes |
ENCORE | 35,259 | Entertainment | |
MUN2 CABLE | 35,192 | Entertainment | |
HALLMARK MOVIE CHANNEL | 34,707 | Entertainment | |
ENCORE PRIMARY | 34,013 | Entertainment | |
HBO | 30,643 | Entertainment | Yes |
SHOWTIME | 23,102 | Entertainment | Yes |
TOTAL U.S. TVHH | 114,900 |
The ‘Scale Thing’
This chart is intended as a handy guide to the household reach of U.S. cable/satellite-delivered networks, courtesy of Nielsen (June 2010).
We added the programming category, and a checkmark to indicate if a channel has an appetite for commissioning factual programs.
We will further qualify this data in the coming months, for example by indicating the scale of hours commissioned, relative total spending on unscripted content, average budgets, a quality metric (e.g. receives award nominations), and so on.
The links connect to our earlier coverage of a network’s commissioning processes.
- We are preparing reports on many other channels that commission factual programs.
Channels not covered by the Nielsen report include:
- LinkTV (32 million satellite homes and ‘program blocks shown regularly on 15 million cable homes’)
- The Documentary Channel (25 million)
- Smithsonian Channel
- Ovation TV (42 million)
HBO and Showtime are “premium” channels, explaining why they are the least widely- distributed channels shown on the list.
- HBO is a powerhouse in the U.S documentary universe
- Showtime also acquires and commissions docs
Don’t forget the regional and college sports networks that commission archive-based series as well as doc features, for example:
- Big Ten Network (75+million, U.S. & Canada)
Please email us if you spot any errors or omissions.