One year after carrying a full season of Monday Night Football simulcasts, ABC is reportedly reverting back to its contractual allowance of a mere handful.
John Ourand of Puck reported Thursday that ABC is expected to revert to its contractually-designated slate of Monday Night Football games this season, which includes three exclusive games and occasional simulcasts. ABC aired a full schedule of MNF last season to fill programming vacancies left by the Hollywood writers and actors strikes, marking the first time since 2005 that MNF aired weekly on broadcast television.
The additional ABC simulcasts helped boost Monday Night Football to its most-watched season since 2000 with an average of 17.39 million viewers (+29%).
The other “Big Four” broadcast networks — each of whom carry NFL games — were not pleased by the additional simulcasts, Ourand reported while still with Sports Business Journal last year. The additional ABC games adversely affected the “scatter” ad market by driving up the number of impressions in the marketplace, driving down the value of the networks’ inventory by giving advertisers extra opportunities to reach broadcast-level audiences.
The reduction in ABC games figures to have a negative impact on Monday Night Football viewership this season and — potentially — the NFL’s overall season average. The last time MNF aired primarily on ESPN two years ago, the games averaged just 13.4 million.
Monday Night Football aired on ABC exclusively from its inception in 1970 through the 2005 season, after which the series moved to cable sibling ESPN. ABC did not air a Monday night game again until 2020.
