Cable Network Ratings: 12/24 - 12/30/2018

ESPN absolutely dominated the ratings for ad-supported cable networks in the week ending December 30, 2018. The net averaged a massive 5.96 million viewers in primetime, nearly 4 million more than second-placed Hallmark Channel (1.98 million). Despite making the top 10 last week, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries dropped to #19 this week with 737,000 viewers. On the cable news side, FOX News (1.27 million) overtook MSNBC (1.19 million) while CNN tumbled to 650,000. Other news nets include CNBC (321,000), HLN (318,000), and FOX Business (87,000).

Rank	Channel	Household Rating	Viewers (000s)
1	ESPN	4.49	5,960
2	HALLMARK CHANNEL	1.84	1,975
3	USA NETWORK	1.05	1,275
4	FOX NEWS CHANNEL	1.16	1,272
5	MSNBC	1.15	1,194
6	HOME AND GARDEN TV	1.00	1,179
7	TBS NETWORK	0.84	1,112
8	INVESTIGATION DISCOVERY	1.03	1,035
9	AMC	0.76	1,031
10	TURNER NETWORK TELEVISION	0.76	1,000
11	FREEFORM	0.67	978
12	HISTORY	0.77	909
13	A&E NETWORK	0.70	865
14	DISCOVERY CHANNEL	0.73	863
15	FOOD NETWORK	0.67	861
16	FX	0.66	857
17	TLC	0.74	817
18	LIFETIME TELEVISION	0.70	802
19	HALLMARK MOVIES & MYSTERIES	0.86	737
20	TV LAND	0.64	676
21	CNN	0.60	650
22	ADULT SWIM	0.45	526
23	INSP	0.51	521
24	BRAVO	0.48	518
25	SYFY	0.41	514
26	NICK-AT-NITE	0.42	507
27	PARAMOUNT	0.41	474
28	GSN	0.48	447
29	WETV	0.40	440
30	NAT GEO WILD	0.55	438
31	NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC	0.37	436
32	MTV	0.37	424
33	BLACK ENTERTAINMENT TV	0.38	422
34	TRAVEL CHANNEL	0.38	402
35	LIFETIME MOVIE NETWORK	0.49	401
36	COMEDY CENTRAL	0.35	397
37	NICK JR	0.36	381
38	ANIMAL PLANET	0.33	366
39	IFC TV	0.33	353
40	WGN AMERICA	0.33	350
41	VH1	0.30	343
42	OXYGEN MEDIA	0.38	341
43	E!	0.31	340
44	CNBC	0.28	321
45	HLN	0.30	318
46	SUNDANCE TV	0.32	310
47	MOTOR TREND	0.29	280
48	FXX	0.21	267
49	TRUTV	0.21	258
50	CMT	0.25	254
51	OPRAH WINFREY NETWORK	0.29	248
52	ESPN2	0.21	245
53	NFL NETWORK	0.28	242
54	BBC-AMERICA	0.21	226
55	DIY NETWORK	0.27	208
56	DISNEY XD	0.17	196
57	SCIENCE	0.24	193
58	NICKTOONS	0.21	175
59	FOX SPORTS 1	0.13	173
60	REELZCHANNEL	0.21	165
61	NBC SPORTS NETWORK	0.14	163
62	THE WEATHER CHANNEL	0.15	156
63	FYI	0.20	149
64	TV ONE	0.20	148
65	FX MOVIE CHANNEL	0.18	143
66	NBA-TV	0.25	143
67	UP	0.17	135
68	COOKING CHANNEL	0.16	131
69	POP	0.15	126
70	AMERICAN HEROES CHANNEL	0.19	114
71	DISCOVERY FAMILY CHANNEL	0.12	110
72	VICELAND	0.13	110
73	MTV2	0.12	108
74	SMITHSONIAN	0.20	100
75	TEENNICK	0.11	100
76	OVATION	0.14	95
77	RFD-TV	0.16	95
78	DISCOVERY EN ESPANOL	0.74	87
79	FOX BUSINESS NETWORK	0.09	87
80	GALAVISION	0.09	86
81	GREAT AMERICAN COUNTRY	0.12	85
82	DESTINATION AMERICA	0.13	81
83	BET HER	0.13	73
84	BOOMERANG	0.13	66
85	UNIVERSO	0.10	60
86	ESPNU	0.07	58
87	CINE LATINO	0.57	57
88	DISCOVERY LIFE CHANNEL	0.10	54
89	FOX DEPORTES	0.16	54
90	EL REY	0.09	51
91	LOGO	0.10	50
92	FUSE	0.07	49
93	GOLF CHANNEL	0.05	44
94	MLB NETWORK	0.06	42
95	ESPN DEPORTES	0.16	41
96	ESPNEWS	0.04	36
97	BABY FIRST TV	0.06	35
98	UNIVERSAL KIDS	0.04	35
99	DISCOVERY FAMILIA	0.31	32
100	FOX SPORTS 2	0.04	29
101	CNN EN ESPANOL	0.33	21
102	TENNIS CHANNEL	0.03	17
103	UNIVISION DEPORTES	0.03	17
104	JUSTICE CENTRAL	0.03	12
105	MTV CLASSIC	0.01	8
106	BEIN SPORT ESPANOL	0.04	7
107	BEIN SPORT	0.02	4
108	ESN LIFESTYLES	0.02	3
109	COMEDY.TV	0.01	2

Source: Nielsen Media Research