The Patriots gave Monday Night Football a rare lift, but were far less of a draw than usual.
Ravens/Patriots earned a 7.8 final rating and 12.9 million viewers on the Week 14 edition of ESPN’s Monday Night Football, up 5% in ratings and 12% in viewership from Giants/Dolphins last year (7.4, 11.5M) but down 8% and 7%, respectively, from Falcons/Packers in 2014 (8.5, 14.0M).
The Patriots’ win, which peaked at a 9.0 and 15.1 million from 9:30-9:45 PM ET, was just the second MNF telecast of the season to post an increase in ratings or viewership — joining Packers/Eagles two weeks earlier.
It tied that Packers/Eagles game as the second-highest rated on ESPN this season, behind Giants/Vikings in Week 4 (8.0). In viewership, it scored the fourth-largest audience of the season behind Giants/Vikings (13.2M), Packers/Eagles (13.1M) and Pittsburgh/Washington in Week 1 (13.0M).
Though solid by this season’s standards, Monday’s game was below par compared to the Patriots’ previous MNF appearances. Last year, Bills/Patriots had an 8.9 and 14.3 million on MNF in Week 11 of the season. In 2014, Patriots/Chiefs had an 8.8 and 14.4 million in Week 8. The 7.8 rating tied the lowest mark for a Patriots game on MNF since Broncos/Patriots in 2008 (7.0), matching Chiefs/Patriots in 2011. Viewership was the lowest since that 2011 game (12.3M).
Figures do not include streaming viewership on WatchESPN (253K) or the Spanish-language audience on ESPN Deportes. With those numbers added to the mix, Monday’s game had 13.3 million viewers.
Among adults 18-49, MNF‘s 4.2 rating increased 11% from last year (3.8) but down 18% from 2014 (5.1).
(Mon. numbers from ESPN)
