Monday Night Football ratings continue to bear the brunt of the NFL’s two-year slump.
Texans-Ravens scored a 5.1 rating and 8.3 million viewers on ESPN’s Monday Night Football this week, down 35% in ratings and 38% in viewership from Packers-Eagles last year (7.8, 13.4M). ESPN Nielsen ratings now include streaming viewership on TV devices; comparisons are to last year’s TV+streaming numbers.
Baltimore’s win earned the third-smallest audience in the history of MNF, ahead of only a pair of games last year — Colts-Jets in Week 13 (8.09M) and Falcons-Saints opposite a presidential debate in Week 3 (8.05M).
It also tied the third-lowest rating in MNF history, matching Broncos-Chargers on Christmas Eve 2007 and ahead of last year’s aforementioned games.
Seven of the eight lowest rated MNF games have taken place in the past two years, as have six of the nine least-watched.
Dating back to last season, 21 of the past 30 Monday Night Football games have failed to crack a 7.0 rating. That exceeds the previous eight seasons — from 2008-15 — combined (17).
After a semi-decent start to the season, in which four of the first eight windows increased, five straight MNF games have hit multi-year lows in ratings and viewership.
ESPN’s telecast had a 9.2 rating in Baltimore and a 7.7 in Houston. Over-the-air simulcasts delivered a 16.2 on Baltimore NBC affiliate WBAL and a 10.7 on Houston ABC affiliate KTRK. New Orleans was the top neutral market (9.4).
The full list of 2017 NFL ratings is available here.
Lowest Monday Night Football Ratings, Viewership
| This year’s games highlighted | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lowest Rated | Least-Watched | ||||||
| # | Year | Game | Rtg. | # | Year | Game | Vwrs. |
| 1 | 2016 | ATL-NO | 4.9 | 1 | 2016 | ATL-NO | 8.05M |
| 2 | 2016 | IND-NYJ | 5.0 | 2 | 2016 | IND-NYJ | 8.09M |
| T3 | 2017 | HOU-BAL | 5.1 | 3 | 2017 | HOU-BAL | 8.27M |
| T3 | 2007 | DEN-SD | 5.1 | 4 | 2017 | IND-TEN | 8.38M |
| T5 | 2017 | IND-TEN | 5.2 | 5 | 2016 | NYJ-AZ | 8.40M |
| T5 | 2016 | NYJ-AZ | 5.2 | 6 | 2007 | NO-ATL | 8.45M |
| 7 | 2017 | MIA-CAR | 5.4 | 7 | 2007 | NYG-ATL | 8.48M |
| 8 | 2016 | TB-CAR | 5.6 | 8 | 2007 | AZ-SF | 8.50M |
| T9 | 2007 | NO-ATL | 5.7 | 9 | 2017 | MIA-CAR | 8.76M |
| T9 | 2007 | NYG-ATL | 5.7 | 10 | 2007 | DEN-SD | 8.77M |
[Numbers from Programming Insider 11.30, Sports Business Daily 11.28]
