USA Network Ranked as 2013’s Top U.S. Basic Cable Channel

NEW YORK: According to Nielsen, USA Network is the most watched of the U.S. basic cable channels in prime time for 2013, averaging 2.68 million viewers.

This compares with 2.92 million viewers in Nielsen's 2012 data. Disney Channel was second, with 2.44 million viewers. ESPN ranked third, with 2.21 million.

HISTORY and TNT swapped spots from the 2012 ranking, with HISTORY at number four with 2.12 million viewers and TNT with 2.07 million. TBS followed closely with 2.01 million. The rest of the top 10 included, in order, Fox News Channel (1.78 million), A&E (1.78 million), FX (1.46 million) and AMC (1.38 million).

Looking at total day figures, Nickelodeon bested Disney Channel, with 1.77 million viewers to 1.72 million. USA Network was third with 1.31 million, Adult Swim fourth at 1.28 million and TNT fifth at 1.13 million. Rounding out the top 10 were Fox News Channel (1.10 million), Cartoon (1.07 million), Nick at Nite (1.06), History (978,000) and ESPN (975,000).

With adults 18 to 49, TBS beat out USA after a seven-year run on top of the prime-time rankings. TBS averaged 1.05 million in the demo, followed by USA at 1.04 million. ESPN drew 995,000 viewers in this group, coming in third. TNT finished fourth with 822,000 viewers 18 to 49. Rounding out the top 5 was A&E, with 805,000 viewers. The top 10 featured, in order, FX (800,000), HISTORY (777,000), Discovery (683,000), AMC (668,000) and Adult Swim (605,000).