Despite being touted as event programming, both Sunday Night Football on NBC and Monday Night Football on ESPN are down significantly from last year.
Of the four NFL broadcast partners, NBC and ESPN have the lowest average rating. NBC is averaging a 10.2/16 rating for Sunday Night Football, down 11% from an 11.5/18 last year. ESPN, meanwhile, is averaging a 7.3/12 for Monday Night Football, off 17% from an 8.4/14 in 2006.
CBS and FOX are tied for top spot, as both networks are averaging a 10.3/22 rating for their afternoon games. Neither network has seen a decline from last year; FOX is even with ’06, and CBS is up 7%.
By no means are the numbers for NBC and ESPN bad; the 7.3/12 for MNF is still higher than the average for the 2007 NBA Finals, and three of the four major events in golf. Still, NBC and ESPN have to be concerned that their ratings are down by double digits.
