or


[09/13/11 - 03:43 PM]
"Monday Night Football" Opener Wins the Night among All Networks
ESPN spins the numbers for Monday, September 12.

[via press release from ESPN]

"Monday Night Football" Opener Wins the Night among All Networks

Patriots-Dolphins Ranks as Fourth Most-Watched Show on Cable in 2011

ESPN.com NFL Content Averages More Than 4.5 Million Unique Visitors on Sunday and Monday

Last night's special 2011 season-opening ESPN Monday Night Football doubleheader helped ESPN win the night among all networks - broadcast or cable - in households, viewers and all key male and adult demos. In addition, the games drove significant traffic to ESPN.com's NFL content. This is the start of the sixth year of MNF on ESPN.

The New England Patriots' 38-24 road victory over the Miami Dolphins (7 p.m. ET) earned a 10.6 rating, representing an average of 10,493,000 households (14,568,000 viewers - P2+), the fourth largest audience for any program on cable television in calendar year 2011, according to Nielsen. It is the second-highest rating of ESPN's 12 MNF opening night games, trailing only last year's Baltimore Ravens-New York Jets opener (10.9 rating, 10,850,000 households and 14,973,000 viewers).

At 10:15 p.m., the Oakland Raiders 23-20 win in Denver over the Broncos earned an 8.2 rating with an average of 8,113,000 households watching (11,109,000 viewers), the eighth-largest household audience for any program on cable television in 2011.

The two ESPN MNF games finished as the two highest-rated programs of the night on any network, averaging a 9.5 household rating, 9,391,000 households (12,965,000 viewers). During the traditional MNF timeslot (8:30-11:45 p.m.), ESPN averaged an 11.6 household rating.

In Boston, the opening game delivered a 10.0 rating on ESPN and a 24.0 on WCVB/WMUR-ABC, for a combined 34.0 rating in the market. In Miami, it earned a 14.8 rating on ESPN and a 7.0 on WSFL-CW, for a combined 21.8 rating.

In San Francisco/Oakland, the nightcap delivered an 8.7 rating on ESPN and a 9.3 on KPIX-CBS, for a combined 18.0 rating in the market. In Denver, the game delivered a 15.8 rating on ESPN and a 21.1 on KTVD-MY, for a combined 36.9 rating in the market.

ESPN's BCS National Championship Game (Auburn-Oregon, 1/10/11) -- the most-viewed program in cable television history with an average of 17.7 million homes (27.3 million viewers) - ranks as the most-viewed program of the calendar year, followed by the 2011 Rose Bowl (20.6 million viewers -- TCU-Wisconsin, 1/1/11) and the 2010 MNF Saints-Falcons season finale (19.1 million viewers -- 12/27/10).

ESPN Digital Platforms

On Sunday and Monday, NFL content across ESPN digital platforms - including ESPN.com, ESPN Fantasy, the ESPN mobile Web, ScoreCenter and WatchESPN - logged an average minute audience of nearly 200,000 users, a 32 percent increase compared to the same two days last season (source: Adobe/Omniture). Fans stayed especially close to Fantasy Football news and updates. The Fantasy Football section on ESPN.com logged the highest average minute audience of any ESPN digital platform with over 58,000 users (up 32 percent), while the mobile Web's Fantasy Football section saw the largest average minute audience increase of 274 percent. Other highlights:

· ESPN.com averaged more than 4.5 million unique visitors and logged an average minute audience of 32,000 users to the NFL section alone, up 16 percent and 25 percent, respectively;

· NFL content on the ESPN mobile Web generated an average minute audience of nearly 25,000 users (a 12 percent gain) and reached 2.9 million unique visitors (up 7 percent).

NEXT WEEK ON MNF

Next week, ESPN's MNF returns with its usual schedule as Eli Manning and the New York Giants host the St. Louis Rams at 8:30 p.m. The complete Monday night NFL schedule on ESPN:

Time (ET) Program
3 p.m. NFL PrimeTime
4 p.m. NFL Live
5 p.m. Around the Horn
5:30 p.m. Pardon the Interruption
6 p.m. SportsCenter Monday Kickoff
7 p.m. Monday Night Countdown
8:30 p.m. MNF: St. Louis Rams at New York Giants
11:30 p.m. SportsCenter





  [september 2011]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
    


· MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL (ESPN)





most recent ratings | view all posts
[10/24/25 - 02:02 PM]
"20/20" Is Friday's Most-Watched Newsmagazine Across the Board
In addition, "20/20" posted its best Adults 25-54 in more than four months.

[10/24/25 - 02:01 PM]
ABC News' "Nightline" Ranks No. 1 Across the Board, Leading NBC in All Key Demos for the 4th Straight Week
"Nightline" grew year to year across the board: Total Viewers, Adults 25-54, and Adults 18-49.

[10/24/25 - 01:05 PM]
"Dancing with the Stars" Makes Television History - Rising for Fifth Straight Week
The October 21 episode scored 6.63 million Total Viewers and a 1.38 rating among Adults 18-49, hitting new season highs in both demographics.

[10/23/25 - 02:33 PM]
Largest Audience for "NBA Tip-Off" Doubleheader Since 2010 as NBA Returned to NBC and Debuted on Peacock
Tuesday night's audience across NBC and Peacock peaked at 7.1 million viewers from 10:45-11 p.m. ET as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder to a one-point win over the Houston Rockets in double overtime.

[10/23/25 - 11:28 AM]
"High Potential" Rises to Season High as Show Nears Fall Finale
ABC's popular drama rose to a multiplatform season high in Total Viewers (12.50 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.31 rating) after seven days of viewing on ABC, Hulu, Hulu on Disney+ and digital platforms.

[10/22/25 - 03:06 PM]
FOX Sports Delivers Most-Watched ALCS Game Since 2017
9,028,000 viewers tuned in across FOX, FS1, FOX Deportes & FOX Sports streaming services for the Toronto Blue Jays' ALCS Game 7 victory over the Seattle Mariners.

[10/22/25 - 08:07 AM]
ESPN College Football on ABC Delivers Top Three Games Across All Networks for Saturday, Oct. 18 - Off to Best Start Since '09
Coverage of Ole Miss at Georgia averaged 9.8 million viewers.

[10/22/25 - 08:03 AM]
FOX NFL's America's Game of the Week Delivers 25,630,000 Average Viewers for Commanders-Cowboys
Season-to-date, the NFL on FOX is off to its best start to the season since 2014, averaging 19,646,000 viewers and up +4% over last year's season-to-date average.

[10/22/25 - 07:44 AM]
"9-1-1: Nashville" Debuts with Over 12 Million Total Audience to Date
The star-studded, high-octane first-responder drama delivered 7.80 million Total Viewers and 1.51 rating among Adults 18-49, excluding encores.

[10/22/25 - 06:21 AM]
ABC's Telecast of Formula 1 U.S. Grand Prix Draws Event's Largest TV Audience on Record
Viewership peaked at 1.6 million between 4:15-4:30 p.m. as Max Verstappen drove to victory, further tightening up the battle for the F1 driver's championship with only five races left in the season.

[10/21/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10 Week of October 13: "The Woman in Cabin 10" Sails Smoothly to No. 1 in This Week's Top 10
In the final stretch to Halloween, those lured in by the story of the OG horror villain put "Monster: The Ed Gein Story" at No. 1 on the English TV list with 9.5 million views.

[10/17/25 - 01:16 PM]
"Live with Kelly and Mark" Hits Season Highs with Best Audience Performance Since July
"Live" has now ranked as the No. 1 talk show in syndication for 139 consecutive weeks across all key measures.

[10/17/25 - 10:38 AM]
"Dancing with the Stars" Continues Historic Hot Streak - Rising for Fourth Straight Week Since Premiere with 6 Million Total Viewers
Plus: "High Potential" dominated the 10 p.m. hour with 4.15 million Total Viewers and a 0.33 rating among Adults 18-49.

[10/16/25 - 06:01 AM]
ESPN's Monumental 2025 WNBA Season Sets New Viewership Records
Across all networks, the 2025 WNBA Postseason was the most-viewed since 1999.

[10/15/25 - 04:02 PM]
"20/20" Is Friday's No. 1 Program on Broadcast TV
"20/20" increased its lead week to week over "Dateline" in Total Viewers to post its largest of the season.