Beta Study: Hallmark, Fox Biz, BBC World, Nat Geo Wild Top Operator Interest

Hallmark Movie Channel tops list for emerging network cable ops

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 1/24/2012 5:01:00 PM

According to the latest Beta Research Corp. study, Hallmark Movie Channel is the emerging network cable operators most want to carry (88%), while the emerging net large systems are most interested in adding BBC World News (33%).

In the top-ranked mid-sized net category, the most sought after among operators in general is Fox Business Network (85%), while for large-systems, the the pick is Nat Geo Wild (24%).

The top five in each category are:

Emerging networks, all operators: Hallmark Movie Channel, Smithsonian Channel, MTV Hits, BBC World News, Crime & Investigation, Cloo.

Mid-sized nets, all operators: Fox Business Network, NFL Network, Nat Geo Wild, PBS Kids Sprout, Cooking Channel.

Emerging nets, large operators: BBC World News, Sony Movie Channel, Crime & Investigation, RLTV, Chiller.

Mid-sized nets, large operators: Nat Geo Wild, NFL Network, PBS Kids SProut, Current TV.

The results are from the fall 2011 Beta Research cable operator carriage study.