A brutal season for Monday Night Football finished strong thanks to “America’s team.”
Lions/Cowboys earned a 10.7 overnight rating on the Week 16 edition of ESPN’s Monday Night Football, up 2% from Bengals/Broncos last year (10.5), up 3% from Broncos/Bengals in 2014 (10.4), and the highest overnight for the MNF season finale since Saints/Falcons in 2010 (12.1).
The 10.7 is easily the highest of the season for MNF, marking the second straight year that its season high as has come in its season finale. The previous high was a 9.1 for Ravens/Patriots in Week 14 and Giants/Vikings in Week 4. Overall, the 10.7 is the highest for MNF since Week 8 of the 2014 season, when Washington/Dallas had a 12.1.
The Cowboys’ win, which peaked at a 12.5 from 9:45-10 PM ET, was the third straight MNF telecast to hit a multi-year high in the metered markets, and the fourth of the last five. That is a marked turnaround from the first 12 windows of the season, each of which hit multi-year lows.
ESPN’s telecast had an 11.2 rating in Detroit — the market’s highest for MNF since Patriots/Saints in 2009 (11.4) — and an 8.9 in Dallas-Ft. Worth. Coverage was simulcast on local ABC affiliates in both markets, earning a 26.0 on WFAA in Dallas and an 18.3 on WXYZ in Detroit. Outside of the home markets, San Antonio (23.7), Austin (19.4) and Norfolk, VA (17.0) topped the charts.
(Mon. numbers from ESPN)
