Brock Osweilier‘s return to Denver was not quite the attraction ESPN had hoped.
The Week 7 Texans/Broncos Monday Night Football game had a 6.7 final rating and 11.2 million viewers on ESPN, down 14% in ratings and 8% in viewership from Ravens/Cardinals last year (7.8, 12.2M) and down 17% and 16%, respectively, from Steelers/Texans in 2014 (8.1, 13.3M).
The Broncos’ win ranks as the lowest rated and least-watched Week 7 MNF game since Lions/Bears in 2012, a game that faced both a presidential debate and an MLB Game 7 (6.6, 10.7M). All eight Monday night games this season have hit multi-year lows in ratings and viewership.
Texans/Broncos was the fifth of eight MNF telecasts this season to have less than a 7.0 rating, more than the three previous seasons combined (four).
In adults 18-49, MNF had a 3.7 rating — down 15% from last year (4.4) and down 23% from 2014 (4.8). Figures do not include the streaming audience of 236,000 on WatchESPN.
(Mon. numbers from Programming Insider 10/25, ShowBuzz Daily 10/25)
