Monday Night Football ended its season on a solid note in the ratings.
The season finale of ESPN’s Monday Night Football (Packers-Vikings) averaged a 7.8 rating and 13.57 million viewers, marking the highest rated and most-watched Week 16 MNF game in three years (2016 Cowboys-Lions: 10.1, 18.61M).
Green Bay’s win, which peaked with 15.05 million from 9:30-9:45 PM ET, delivered the fourth-largest Monday night audience of the season. Both of Minnesota’s appearances made the top four.
Ratings increased 73% and viewership 58% from Broncos-Raiders on Christmas Eve last year (4.5, 8.60M) and 32% and 16% respectively from Raiders-Eagles on Christmas Day in 2017 (5.9, 11.74M).
ESPN finished the season averaging 12.57 million viewers for Monday night games, up 8% from last year (11.65M), up 17% from 2017 (10.79M), and its highest average since 2015. That does not include an average of 102,000 on ESPN Deportes (+21%), that network’s highest average yet.
Six of ESPN’s 17 MNF windows averaged at least 13 million viewers, more than the two previous seasons combined (four) and the most in a single season since 2015 (eight).
Eleven MNF windows increased over last year and nine hit multi-year highs. Packers-Vikings posted the biggest increase of the season, with the caveat that last year’s game was the lowest rated and ninth-least watched in MNF history.
New Orleans was the top market for MNF this season, averaging a 15.8 rating. San Diego ranked second (11.5), followed by Richmond (10.7), Las Vegas and Denver (10.5).
MNF scored a 3.6 rating in adults 18-49 (+57%) and a 2.6 in adults 18-34 (+44%), hitting a three-year high in the former.
[Nielsen estimates from ESPN, ShowBuzz Daily 12.24, ESPN PR 12.27]
