Food Network closes out their summer season with dramatic growth, adding 4.1 million subscriber households from August to September. The gain marks the largest absolute increase in the number of
subscribers of any of the 55 measured cable networks, according to figures released by Nielsen Media Research last week. Food Network outstripped the closest cable contender, ESPN Classic, by
approximately 440,000 subscriber households to surpass the 66 million-subscriber mark. The network, which added distribution to 550 local cable systems since June 2000, attributes its continuing rapid
growth to several major market launches with AT&T this summer -- including 1.4 million subscribers in San Francisco, 500,000 in Seattle, and 460,000 in Pittsburgh - as well as to significant
subscriber increases in Top 10 DMAs such as Los Angeles, Dallas and Atlanta. Recent adjustments in Nielsen's estimated universe of cable television households resulted from the integration of updated
U.S. census data.
