• by Wayne Friedman , March 1, 2011

Big cable network winners so far this year are History, MTV and Discovery. Those suffering in the early going include CNBC, Fox News, and TBS. 

History grabbed 2.1 million for a big 39% gain, thanks to "Pawn Stars" and other shows pulling their weight for the month of February, versus the same period a year ago. On the back of big numbers from "Jersey Shore" and solid gains from "Teen Mom," MTV rocketed up 52% in its prime-time viewership data to 1.37 million. Discovery added 31% to get to 1.39 million.

Other notable gainers: FX, with a growing number of original TV series on the march, picked up a strong 31% to an average 936,000 in prime time. CNN got a bit of a boost from a new Piers Morgan centerpiece prime-time show, moving up 26% to 674,000.

Leading cable network USA Network showed some resiliency, improving 2% in its average prime-time viewers to 3.1 million. Close competitor TNT was down 1% to 2.3 million viewers.

Disney Channel continues to see a solid performance -- up 15% to 2.7 million, good for second place in prime time. Also strong during this period was ESPN -- up 14% to 1.6 million.

In total day ratings -- more of a reflection of how well a network does in daytime -- Nickelodeon was still tops at 2.3 million, flat versus February 2009. Disney Channel was next at 1.7 million, up 10%.

Prime-time losers included CNBC, down to 284,000 in prime time with a big-time 58% loss. In its key daytime programming block, conditions aren't great either -- down 45% to 211,000 overall viewers. Another news network -- Fox News -- suffered as well, down 12% to 1.9 million, it sat in fifth place overall.

A&E was at 1.50 million, off 5%. TBS, also a top network, was down 13% to 1.46 million. Still looking for a stronger presence, Lifetime was at 964,000, down 3%.

After a big start, OWN, the new Oprah Winfrey Network, continued to tread water. In prime time, it was virtually even with what Discovery Health did in February 2010 -- down 2% to 247,000 average viewers in prime time. In daytime, it was down 7% to 131,000.

Other notables: Scripps networks both recovered from steep declines in the previous periods -- Food Network was up 8% to 1.06 million and HGTV added 3% to 1.18 million. Syfy was 13% higher to 1.21 million; truTV, was flat at 1.19 million; Nick Jr. was 23% better at 910,000.