ESPN and Speed up, while Versus takes a dive

According to SportsBusiness Daily, ESPN begins 2010 in 99 million U.S. TV households, up from 98.1 million at the start of last year, and up from 90.1 million at the start of '06. ESPN2 ranks second among sports nets with a presence in 98.7 million homes, and Golf Channel is third at 82 million homes. Speed comes in fourth with just below 75 million homes, an increase from 73.3 million the previous year. While each cable sports net has a higher carriage number than at the start of '09, Versus (IRL broadcast channel) has lost a huge 10 million homes between '09 and '10 down to 63.8 million.