or


[11/21/06 - 08:39 PM]
ESPN's NFL Coverage Up 36% VS. 2005
ESPN spins the numbers for Monday, November 20.

[via press release from ESPN]

ESPN�S NFL COVERAGE UP 36% VS. 2005;

PLUS QUOTES & NOTES FROM LAST NIGHT

21 MILLION PAGE VIEWS MONDAY FOR ESPN.COM, UP 52% FROM 2005

FOR THE SEASON, ESPN LEADS ALL NETWORKS FOR MALE VIEWERS ON MONDAYS

Last night�s 26-10 victory by the Jacksonville Jaguars over the New York Giants on ESPN�s Monday Night Football earned an 8.9 rating, representing an average of 8,234,000 homes (10,963,000 viewers, P2+). The game was simulcast on local over-the-air channels in Jacksonville (17.5 rating) and New York (3.6 rating), boosting ESPN�s audience to an estimated average of 8,600,000 households. The total also includes those viewing in high definition on ESPN HD.

NFL Season to Date

MNF on ESPN is averaging a 10.1 rating and 9,301,000 homes (12,500,000 P2+) for 12 games in 11 weeks. These represent increases of 36%, 39% and 38%, respectively, compared to the first 11 weeks of last year�s ESPN Sunday Night Football (7.4 rating, 6.685 million homes, 9.069 million viewers).

ESPN leads all networks � cable or broadcast � in delivery of all key male demos on Mondays in primetime: men 18+, men 18-34, men 18-49 and men 25-54.

ESPN leads all cable networks in overall household delivery in primetime (an average of 2,580,000 households throughout the week).

ESPN�s 12 MNF games so far are cable television�s largest 12 household audiences of the year.

�Monday Night Surround� on ESPN.com

Online, ESPN.com�s NFL and "Monday Night Surround" content viewed on computers and wireless devices generated more than 21 million page views Monday, up 52% over page views last year according to Web measurement tool HitBox. In addition, there were 1.7 million views of pro-football-related videos on ESPN Motion and ESPN360 on Monday (through Tuesday at noon).

LAST NIGHT ON MNF

COMMENTS:

�The road to Canton may wind through Green Bay and Pittsburgh, but the road to television goes through the intersection of Mara and Tisch.�

� Tony Kornheiser, whose opening essay highlighted some of the great former Giants who went on to successful broadcast careers

�If he commits to ESPN, he can have my seat as early as next week.�

� Kornheiser, jokingly about Tiki Barber�s planned TV career after he retires at season�s end

Theismann: �Matt Jones and Reggie Williams are fighting the ball terribly. It hit him (Williams) right in the chest.�

Booth guest Ronde Barber: �That looked pretty catchable.�

Theismann: �They�re fighting the ball now, wouldn�t you say?�

Barber: �I�d say so. When the ball gets to your chest, your chest pad is not your friend.�

SECOND HALF KICKOFF

Tirico: �To be honest, Tom Coughlin and the Giants offense were awful in the first half.�

Kornheiser: �If you�re a sportswriter, you start out by writing the Giants stunk. If they�re feeling Dallas�s hot breath on their necks, it must be burning.�

�Eli Manning, on third-down passing, is the 31st rated quarterback in the league. That�s next to last, and you saw it right there. For a guy as good as Manning has been, he�s terrible at converting third downs.�

� Kornheiser, following an overthrown pass on 3rd-and-3

�Now you�ve got the quarterback upset that the receiver didn�t go far enough in. You�ve got the receiver upset that the ball isn�t led. See, Plax is not running hard, he just sort of eases into it. As a quarterback, you have to be on the same page.

� Theismann on the frustrations of Plaxico Burress and Eli Manning (supported by iso camera shots)

REPLAYS

Extensive replays are an integral part of ESPN�s MNF presentation, as evidenced by last night�s telecast, which featured 39 first half replays alone. An example of how ESPN replays -- coupled with Joe Theismann�s expert analysis -- cover a key aspect of the game:

THEISMANN & ISO REPLAYS ILLUSTRATE ELI�S MECHANICAL WOES

Theismann: �Mechanically, he�s very poor.�

Replay 1 � �He throws the ball dead into the ground. No touch. It�s like he�s trying to put the ball places instead of just throwing it.�

Replay 2 � �Behind Plaxico. Should have been out in front of him.�

Replay 3 � �Doesn�t get a push off. Doesn�t get his hips rotated, therefore he has no energy and no power on the throw, and that�s why it winds up being intercepted. It�s all mechanical with him.�

SKYCAM

From behind Jags� quarterback David Garrard, viewers see an entire pass play develop as he steps up to avoid the Giants pass rush and hits Ernest Wilford downfield, cutting left-to-right across the field among defenders.

JAGS RECEIVERS STRUGGLE TO MAKE THE CATCH

Suzy Kolber describes special drills the Jacksonville receivers went through during the week, adding: �(Receiver Reggie Williams says) Garrard moves around a lot more than Byron Leftwich, and the receivers have to stay alive a lot longer and adjust to an unexpected launch point.�

Theismann: �I think that�s a crock of baloney. I think if you�re a receiver, you catch the football.�

Graphic: PCT. OF ON-TARGET PASSES DROPPED

From Garrard 23%

From Leftwich 9%

Theismann: �They�ve played more with Leftwich. The velocity on the ball is different, but not that much. You�re a receiver, you get paid to catch the football no matter where it�s coming from or who it�s coming from.�

NEXT WEEK ON MNF

Next week, ESPN�s MNF will feature the Green Bay Packers visiting the Seattle Seahawks at 8:30 p.m.





  [november 2006]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
   


· MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL (ESPN)
· SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL (NBC)





most recent ratings | view all posts
[03/25/26 - 02:33 PM]
ESPN Scores Second Most-Watched NCAA Women's Second Round Ever
Through two rounds (First and Second), the 2026 Women's NCAA Tournament is averaging 628,000 viewers.

[03/24/26 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of March 16 - The Wait Is Over as "BTS THE COMEBACK LIVE" Ignites at No. 1
Holding steady at No. 1 on the English TV list is "One Piece" Season 2 with 11.1 million views.

[03/24/26 - 10:02 AM]
BTS Commands the Global Stage As "BTS THE COMEBACK LIVE - ARIRANG" Draws 18.4 Million Global Viewers
The live broadcast from Seoul's historic Gwanghwamun Square reached the weekly Top 10 in 80 countries and secured the #1 spot in 24 countries.

[03/20/26 - 02:30 PM]
ABC News Is #1 in Total Viewers in Late Night, Friday Night and Sunday Morning
"20/20" improved on the previous week in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49.

[03/20/26 - 02:01 PM]
CBS Has Top 2 and 11 of Top 20 Series in Live + 7-Day Multiplatform Viewership Among All Broadcast and Streaming Competition in the First Week of March
CBS has #1 series/drama ("Marshals"), #1 comedy ("Georgie and Mandy's First Marriage"), #1 primetime news program ("60 Minutes") and #1 unscripted series ("Survivor") of the week.

[03/20/26 - 01:01 PM]
"Jimmy Kimmel Live" Tops Late-Night for Third Week in a Row Among Adults 18-49
The Thursday, March 5, episode scored the show's top telecast across all three weeks among Adults 18-49 (0.21 rating), with the show's best rating in the key adult demo in four weeks.

[03/19/26 - 02:34 PM]
10,784,000 Viewers: World Baseball Classic Final on FOX and FOX Deportes Delivers Most-Watched WBC Telecast Ever
Viewership peaked with 12,148,000 from 10:30-10:45 PM ET on FOX.

[03/19/26 - 01:03 PM]
3 Million "Outlander" Fans Drive the Epic Season Eight Premiere to a Four-Year Series High
The episode, entitled "Soul of a Rebel," secured the top spot for the week among all scripted cable programs.

[03/19/26 - 08:01 AM]
"Zootopia 2" Roars to #1 on Disney+ with 32M Views Globally in Its Premiere Week
Its arrival on service builds on the enduring popularity of the franchise: together, "Zootopia," "Zootopia+," and "Zootopia 2" have been streamed over 885 million hours globally to date.

[03/17/26 - 03:16 PM]
FOX Sports Hits Home Run with Most-Watched WBC Game in History
7,369,000 viewers watched on FS1 and FOX Deportes as Team USA advanced past the Dominican Republic 2-1 in the World Baseball Classic semifinals on Sunday night.

[03/17/26 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of March 9 - "One Piece" Season 2 Sets Sail for No. 1 in This Week's Top 10
Proving that demand for prehistoric beasts will never go extinct, docuseries "The Dinosaurs" landed at No. 2 on the English TV list with 9.6 million views.

[03/13/26 - 03:05 PM]
Italy's Victory Over Mexico Delivers 2 Million Viewers Across FS1 and FOX Deportes
Said coverage marked the most-watched non-USA WBC Pool Play telecast ever.

[03/13/26 - 01:45 PM]
ABC News Is #1 in Total Viewers in Late Night, Friday Night and Sunday Morning
"20/20" saw week-to-week gains in Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49.

[03/12/26 - 03:18 PM]
FOX Sports Scores All-Time High Team USA World Baseball Classic Viewership
3,171,000 viewers on average watched the four Team USA World Baseball Classic Pool play games across FOX, FS1 and FOX Deportes.

[03/12/26 - 03:01 PM]
CBS Midseason Premiere Week Tops Broadcast and Streaming Rankings in Live + 7-Day Multiplatform Viewership
The network scored three of the top four and 12 of the top 20 most-watched series among all broadcast and streaming competition.