"Monday Night Football" Helps ESPN Win the Night among All Networks

Last night's ESPN Monday Night Football telecast - a 20-3 San Francisco 49ers victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers, that was subject to two delays due to blackouts in Candlestick Park in San Francisco - helped ESPN win the night among all networks - broadcast or cable. The telecast averaged:

· 11.7 household coverage rating (10.1 U.S. rating)

· 11,611,000 households

· 16,677,000 viewers

Notes:

· ESPN won the night among all networks in households, viewers, and all key male and adult demos; MNF led all programs Monday night in the delivery of households, viewers, and all key male and adult demos;

· The MNF telecast ranks as the seventh-largest audience on cable television in calendar year 2011 in households (sixth among viewers)

Local market ratings:

· Pittsburgh: 15.6 rating on ESPN and a 28.6 rating on WTAE-ABC, for a combined 44.2 rating.

· San Francisco: 11.4 rating on ESPN and a 16.8 rating on KPIX-CBS, for a combined 28.2 rating.

MNF season averages (thru 15 weeks/16 games):

· 9.6 household coverage rating (8.3 U.S. rating)

· 9,530,000 households

· 13,103,000 viewers

Source: Nielsen

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 161,000 users, a 24 percent increase compared to the same two days last season (source: Adobe/Omniture). ESPN.com logged an average minute audience of 91,000 users to the NFL section alone, up 11 percent from last year, while NFL content on ESPN Mobile Applications generated an average minute audience of more than 69,000 users, a 46 percent gain.

MNF SEASON FINALE NEXT WEEK IN NEW ORLEANS

The season finale of ESPN's MNF features another marquee matchup next week when Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints (11-3) host Matt Ryan and the NFC South rival Atlanta Falcons (9-5) on Monday, December 26, at 8:30 p.m. ET. The Saints are vying for the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoffs, while the Falcons hope to secure a playoff berth of their own. The same two teams met a year ago in ESPN's 2010 MNF season finale with the Saints winning 17-14. (The Dec. 27, 2010 game was the most-viewed MNF game last season -- and the third-most-viewed MNF game all-time on ESPN - with 19,137,000 viewers).