Monday Night Football ratings declined again in Week 3, but this week there is a decent excuse.
Steelers-Buccaneers earned a 7.2 rating and 12.01 million viewers on the latest edition of ESPN’s Monday Night Football, down 12% in ratings and 13% in viewership from last year (Cowboys-Cardinals: 8.2, 13.8M) but up 49% and 42% respectively from 2016 (Falcons-Saints: 4.9, 8.0M).
All four Monday Night Football games this season have declined from last year, though Monday’s drop comes with a caveat. Last year’s game — the Cowboys’ sole appearance on ESPN — was the season’s highest rated and most-watched edition of MNF.
Excluding 2016, when Falcons-Saints set MNF record-lows opposite a presidential debate, Pittsburgh’s win delivered ESPN’s lowest Week 3 NFL rating since 2005 (6.5) and its smallest audience since 2008 (11.88M).
Despite the historically low numbers, Monday’s game was still ESPN’s highest rated and most-watched of the early season.
Ratings and viewership peaked at an 8.3 and 13.9 million from 9:15-9:30 PM ET. Including the Spanish-language audience on ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes (107K), the game had 12.1 million.
MNF drew a 4.4 rating in adults 18-49, down 14% from last year (5.1) but up 42% from 2016 (3.1). It also had a 3.8 in adults 18-34 (-12%) and a 4.9 in adults 25-54 (-14%).
ESPN’s telecast drew a 10.8 rating in Tampa-St. Petersburg and a 9.1 in Pittsburgh. The game was simulcast on local ABC affiliates in both markets, earning a 10.2 on Tampa’s WWOR and a whopping 31.9 on Pittsburgh’s WTAE. Simulcast figures are not included in ESPN’s national results.
New Orleans was the top neutral market with a 15.2 rating, followed by Norfolk, Va. (13.6) and Baltimore (13.5).
The full list of Week 3 NFL ratings is available here.
[Numbers from ESPN PR 9.25; Nielsen via ShowBuzz Daily 9.25]
