The annual Monday Night Football doubleheader hit multi-year lows in ratings and viewership.
The Week 1 Pittsburgh/Washington Monday Night Football game had a 7.7 final rating and 13.0 million viewers on ESPN, down 9% in ratings and 4% in viewership from Eagles/Falcons last year (8.5, 13.6M) and down 8% and 6%, respectively, from Giants/Lions in 2014 (8.4, 13.7M).
The Steelers’ win was the lowest rated and least-watched MNF opener in four years, since Bengals/Ravens in 2012 (7.0, 10.9M). Keep in mind figures do not include the streaming audience of 306,000 on WatchESPN. With those viewers included, Monday’s game attracted 13.3 million — still a four-year low.
The Rams/49ers nightcap earned a 6.2 and 10.3 million, down 25% in ratings and 30% in viewership from last year’s Vikings/49ers game, the most-watched Week 1 late game ever on ESPN (8.8, 14.3M), and down 13% and 11%, respectively, from Cardinals/Chargers in 2014 (7.1, 11.5M).
The 49ers’ win tied the lowest rating for MNF in Week 1 of the season since 49ers/Cardinals in 2007 (5.8), matching Broncos/Raiders in 2008. In viewership, it was the least-watched Week 1 MNF telecast since the same Broncos/Raiders game (9.7M).
Including the 308,000 who watched on WatchESPN, a record for the online service, the combined audience of 10.6 million was the smallest since Chargers/Raiders in 2012 (10.5M on TV alone).
Of note, 49ers/Rams had an 8.0 rating in St. Louis — the Rams home for two decades before this season. Not including the home markets, ratings for which are available here, St. Louis ranked just outside of the top ten.
Monday Night Football concluded a rough opening weekend for the NFL. Five of the seven telecast windows hit multi-year lows in ratings and viewership, the lone exceptions being the FOX doubleheader.
(Mon. numbers from ESPN)
