It has not been the best of starts for ESPN’s Monday Night Football.
The Week 2 Eagles/Bears Monday Night Football game earned a 7.3 final rating and 12.1 million viewers on ESPN, down 10% in ratings and 3% in viewership from Jets/Colts last year (8.1, 12.5M) and down 21% and 18%, respectively, from Eagles/Colts in 2014 (9.2, 14.9M).
The Eagles’ win earned the lowest rating ever for MNF in Week 2 of the season, falling below the previous mark of 7.7 for Washington/Philadelphia in 2007. It was also the least-watched Week 2 MNF game in five years, since Rams/Giants in 2011 (11.9M).
Figures do not include Spanish-language viewership on ESPN Deportes or the streaming audience of 295,000 on WatchESPN. With those figures included, the game had 12.5 million.
Among adults 18-49, MNF scored a 4.5 rating — down 4% from last year (4.7) and down 22% from 2014 (5.8).
Through two weeks, ten of the first 13 NFL telecast windows have posted declines in ratings and viewership. That includes nine windows that have hit multi-year lows.
(Mon. numbers from ESPN Media Zone 9/20)
