ESPN put up fairly weak numbers for Monday Night Football, but still managed an increase over last year.
The Week 10 Texans/Bengals Monday Night Football game drew a 7.7 final rating and 12.2 million viewers on ESPN, up 7% in ratings and 8% in viewership from Eagles/Panthers last year (7.2, 11.3M), up 8% and 11%, respectively, from Dolphins/Buccaneers in 2013 (7.1, 11.0M), and the top MNF game in Week 10 of the season since Chiefs/Steelers in 2012 (8.2, 12.8M).
Ratings and viewership peaked at an 8.7 and 13.8 million from 9:30-9:45 PM ET.
Despite the multi-year high, the Texans’ win tied the second-lowest MNF rating of the season — matching Steelers/Chargers in Week 5 and ahead of only Bears/Chargers in Week 9 (7.3). It also ranks as the third-least watched, ahead of the aforementioned games. Five of the past six Monday night games have failed to earn at least an 8.0 rating, matching last year’s full season total.
Among adults 18-49, Monday’s game had a 4.2 rating — up a tick from last year (4.1) and up 8% from 2013 (3.9). The 4.2 is tied as the lowest of the season on ESPN, matching Bears/Chargers.
(Mon. numbers from ESPN Media Zone, with additional info from ShowBuzz Daily)
