With the benefit of two Monday Night Football games added to the mix, ESPN widened its distance from the rest of the pack. And although ~80% of the viewing for Thursday Night Football happens on CBS rather than NFL Network, the 20% plus coverage of the NFL season’s first week was enough to propel NFL Network to second place both in primetime and total day viewing.
Primetime rankings for the week ending September 20, 2015:
| Net | Viewers (000) | Viewers 18-49 (000) |
| ESPN | 4318 | 1,987 |
| NFLN | 689 | 389 |
| ESP2 | 449 | 201 |
| FS1 | 198 | 67 |
| MLBN | 195 | 60 |
| NBCS | 190 | 37 |
| ESNU | 139 | 57 |
| UDN | 109 | 65 |
| GOLF | 104 | 22 |
| ENN | 92 | 40 |
| FOXD | 50 | 28 |
| NBAT | 46 | 18 |
| FS2 | 31 | 16 |
| BEIN | 10 | 3 |
Total Day:
| Net | Viewers (000) | Viewers 18-49 (000) |
| ESPN | 1,515 | 781 |
| NFLN | 272 | 153 |
| ESP2 | 260 | 132 |
| NBCS | 197 | 57 |
| GOLF | 125 | 20 |
| FS1 | 110 | 44 |
| MLBN | 96 | 35 |
| ESNU | 72 | 30 |
| ENN | 59 | 30 |
| UDN | 41 | 24 |
| FOXD | 33 | 19 |
| FS2 | 22 | 10 |
| NBAT | 21 | 9 |
| BEIN | 10 | 5 |
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As of July 2015, here are the Nielsen coverage estimates for the sports networks listed above:
| Network name | Estimated # of Homes (000) | Coverage % |
| BEIN SPORT | 18,161 | 15.6 |
| ESPN | 92,940 | 79.8 |
| ESPN CLASSIC | 25,191 | 21.6 |
| ESPN2 | 92,855 | 79.8 |
| ESPNEWS | 71,293 | 61.2 |
| ESPNU | 73,091 | 62.8 |
| FOX DEPORTES | 21,534 | 18.5 |
| FOX SPORTS 1 (Formerly SPEED) | 84,309 | 72.4 |
| FOX SPORTS 2 (Formerly FUEL) | 46,659 | 40.1 |
| GOLF CHANNEL | 78,299 | 67.3 |
| MLB NETWORK | 68,342 | 58.7 |
| NBA-TV | 55,785 | 47.9 |
| NBC SPORTS NETWORK | 83,874 | 72.1 |
| NFL NETWORK | 70,466 | 60.5 |
| UNIVISION DEPORTES | 44,221 | 38.0 |