A good game between two recent Super Bowl teams could not save ESPN’s Monday Night Football ratings.
Falcons-Seahawks scored a 6.4 rating and 10.8 million viewers on ESPN Monday night, down 7% in ratings and 12% in viewership from Texans-Broncos last year (6.9, 12.2M). ESPN’s Nielsen ratings now include streaming viewership on television; comparisons are to last year’s TV+streaming numbers.
The Falcons’ win, which peaked at a 7.3 and 12.4 million from 9:45-10 PM ET, was the lowest rated and least-watched Week 10 MNF game since Titans-Broncos in 2010 (6.3, 9.6M).
Eight of 12 MNF telecasts this season have hit a multi-year low in ratings and/or viewership.
Dating back to last season, 20 of the past 29 Monday Night Football games have failed to crack a 7.0 rating. That exceeds the previous eight seasons — from 2008-15 — combined (17).
Despite the low numbers, MNF is still trending above last year through 11 weeks. The series is averaging 10.9 million viewers, up 1% from last year’s 10.8 million.
In the key young adult demographics, MNF declined 13% in adults 18-49 (from 4.0 to 3.5), 6% in adults 18-34 (from 3.1 to 2.9) and 11% in adults 25-54 (from 4.6 to 4.1). In adults 50+, ratings were down only 3% (from 5.1 to 4.9).
ESPN’s telecast had a 15.3 rating in Seattle and an 8.8 in Atlanta. Over-the-air simulcasts pulled a 24.1 on Seattle CBS affiliate KIRO and a 12.3 on Channel 2 in Atlanta.
New Orleans led all neutral markets with a 13.2.
The full list of 2017 NFL ratings is available here.
[Mon. numbers from ESPN]
