ESPN, Discovery Rank as Favorite Cable Channels

US viewers see ESPN and the Discovery Channel as the most indispensable cable networks, Multichannel News reports. A poll by Solutions Research Group asked 1,200 TV viewers which channels they thought of as “must keep.” The results:

• The top four spots went to the big networks. In order: ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox.
• The rest of the top 10: ESPN, Discovery, History, Sci Fi Channel, HBO, and the Food Network.

• About 80% said they would keep at least one of the big four networks if they had a limited selection of channels, and 57% said they would keep two.
• Of the cable news networks, viewers ranked CNN at 14 Fox News at 18.
• The channels that gained the most compared to previous rankings were Sci Fi (from 14 to 8) and USA (from 20 to 11).