For the third time in four weeks, Monday Night Football scored one of the lowest ratings in its decades-long history.
The Week 6 Jets/Cardinals Monday Night Football game had a 5.2 final rating and 8.4 million viewers on ESPN, down 40% in ratings and viewership from Giants/Eagles last year (8.7, 13.9M) and down 34% in both measures from 49ers/Rams in 2014 (7.9, 12.7M).
The Cardinals’ win earned the second-smallest audience in the history of Monday Night Football, ahead of only Falcons/Saints opposite the first presidential debate in Week 3 (8.0M). Figures do not include streaming viewership on WatchESPN (200K), which brings the total audience up to 8.8 million.
It also had the third-lowest rating in MNF history, ahead of Falcons/Saints (4.9) and Chargers/Broncos on Christmas Eve 2007 (5.1). Including Buccaneers/Panthers in Week 5 (5.6), three of the four lowest ratings in MNF history have come in three of the past four weeks.
In adults 18-49, MNF had a 3.0 rating — down 42% from last year (5.2) and down 35% from 2014 (4.6).
All seven Monday Night Football games have hit multi-year lows in ratings, viewership and adults 18-49. Three of the past four games declined double-digits in all three measures from both last year and 2014. Despite the weak performances, ESPN has won the night on television in the major adult demos in five of six weeks this season (the lone exception being the week of the first presidential debate).
MNF completed a rough week for the NFL in primetime. None of the league’s primetime windows cracked a 9.0 rating (Thursday Night Football came closest at an 8.7), the first time that has happened since Week 7 in 2011.
(Mon. numbers from ESPN)
