A matchup of sub-.500 teams unsurprisingly hit a season-low on ESPN’s Monday Night Football.
The Week 9 Bears/Chargers Monday Night Football game had a 7.3 final rating and 11.4 million viewers on ESPN, down 6% in ratings and 7% in viewership from Giants/Colts last year (7.8, 12.4M), down 28% and 29%, respectively, from Bears/Packers in 2013 (10.1, 16.1M), and the lowest rated, least-watched MNF telecast of the season (10 total).
The previous lows were a 7.7 and just shy of 12.2 million for the Chargers’ previous MNF appearance, against the Steelers in Week 5.
The Bears’ win also ranks as the lowest rated and least-watched MNF telecast in Week 9 of the season since Ravens/Steelers in 2007 (6.4, 9.9M), marking just the third time in ten telecasts this season that the series has hit a multi-year low.
Four of the past five Monday Night Football games have had declines in ratings and viewership, with each of those four falling below the 8.0 mark. By comparison, only one of the first five telecasts had a decline in both measures, and none slipped below 8.0.
Among adults 18-49, MNF had a 4.2 rating — down a tick from last year (4.3) and down 31% from 2013 (6.1).
(Mon. numbers via TV Media Insights/TV By the Numbers)
