With the winless Dolphins facing the sub-.500 Steelers, Monday Night Football ratings fell to an unsurprising low.
Dolphins-Steelers averaged a 6.0 rating and 9.98 million viewers on the Week 8 edition of ESPN’s Monday Night Football, marking the network’s lowest rated Week 8 game since 2004 (49ers-Bears: 5.5) and least-watched since 2005 (Bills-Patriots: 9.70M).
The Steelers’ win, which peaked with 11.80 million from 9:30-9:45 PM ET, also ranks as the lowest rated and least-watched Monday night game of the season. The previous lows were a 6.2 for Chicago-Washington in Week 3 and 10.47 million for Bengals-Steelers in Week 4.
Ratings declined 9% and viewership 8% from last year (Patriots-Bills: 6.6, 10.85M) and 5% and 4% respectively from 2017 (Broncos-Chiefs: 6.3, 10.42M).
Even after the multiple lows, ESPN NFL viewership is still up 3% for the season (to 11.70M).
The ESPN telecast averaged an 11.0 rating in Pittsburgh and a 5.3 in Miami-Ft. Lauderdale. The game was simulcast on local ABC affiliates in both markets, averaging a 29.4 on Pittsburgh’s WTAE and a 5.9 on Miami’s WPLG.
West Palm Beach led all markets for ESPN’s telecast with a 12.7 rating, followed by Pittsburgh. Cincinnati, Cleveland and Las Vegas tied for third at a 9.3.
MNF scored a 3.1 rating in adults 18-49 (-11%), ESPN’s lowest Week 8 rating in the demo since 2002 — opposite Game 7 of the World Series (Indianapolis-Washington: 2.4). It also had a 2.2 in adults 18-34 (-21%), its lowest in that demo since 2001 — also opposite Game 7 of the World Series (Jets-Saints: 1.8).
Including Spanish-language viewership on ESPN Deportes, the game averaged 10.02 million.
[Nielsen estimates from ESPN, ESPN PR 10.29, ShowBuzz Daily 10.29]
