The numbers were not great — no surprise given the blowout — but Monday Night Football still hit a three-year high in Week 12.
ESPN’s Monday Night Football (Ravens-Rams) averaged a 6.5 rating and 10.93 million viewers last night, marking the highest rated and most-watched Week 12 edition of MNF in three years (2016 Packers-Eagles: 7.8. 13.06M).
Baltimore’s blowout win, which peaked with 13.05 million viewers from 9:00-9:15 PM ET, increased 8% in ratings and 12% in viewership from last year (Titans-Texans: 6.0, 9.74M) and 27% and 32% respectively from 2017 (Texans-Ravens: 5.1, 8.27M).
It was the sixth of the past eight Monday night games to increase over last year, and the third of four to hit a multi-year high. MNF is now averaging 12.53 million viewers for the season (+6%).
Even so, it ranks just eighth in viewership out of 13 Monday night games this season and snapped a streak of three straight with at least 12 million.
Including a Spanish-language audience of 131,000 on ESPN Deportes (+50%), the game averaged 11.06 million (+11%).
ESPN’s telecast averaged an 11.8 rating in Baltimore and a mere 5.6 in Los Angeles. Coverage was simulcast on local broadcast affiliates in both markets, averaging a 24.6 on Baltimore NBC affiliate WBAL and a 5.6 in KABC in Los Angeles. Simulcast figures are not included in ESPN’s national results.
Seattle was the top neutral market with a 10.9 rating, followed by Washington D.C. (10.7), San Diego (10.0) and Kansas City, Las Vegas and Norfolk, Va., in a three-way-tie (8.9).
MNF drew a 3.5 rating in adults 18-49 (+13%) and a 2.7 in adults 18-34 (+13%), both three-year highs.
[Nielsen estimates from ESPN PR 11.26, ShowBuzz Daily 11.26]
