ESPN's Monday Night Football: 21.4 Million Viewers for Patriots-Saints Game

Second Most-Watched Cable Program of All-Time in Households and Viewers;

Second-Highest Rating in ESPN History; ESPN Wins the Night in Households, Viewers, and Key Male and Adult Demos Among All Networks

This week’s Monday Night Football game on ESPN – the New Orleans Saints’ improving to 11-0 with a 38-17 victory over the New England Patriots – earned a 15.0 rating, representing an average of 14,872,000 households (21,402,000 viewers – P2+), making it the second most-watched cable telecast of all time among both households and viewers, as well as ESPN’s second-highest rating in the network’s 30-year history. The MNF game also ranks as the top prime time program of the past two weeks (since 11/16/09) among all broadcast and cable networks in households, viewers, and all key male and adult demos.

The Patriots-Saints game finished just shy of ESPN’s Monday Night Football telecast October 5 (Green Bay Packers at Minnesota Vikings), which set the all-time cable records for households (15,136,000) and viewers (21,839,000), based on an ESPN-record 15.3 rating.  ESPN has set the cable household viewership record four times in as many years since acquiring the rights to MNF. In all, cable’s seven biggest household audiences ever -- and eight of the top 10 – (excluding breaking news) are ESPN MNF games.

Monday’s game delivered a combined 35.0 rating in Boston (13.1 on ESPN and 21.9 on WCVB-ABC), as well as a combined 66.7 rating in New Orleans (23.3 on ESPN and 43.4 on WDSU-NBC). The New Orleans rating is the highest combined local rating for ESPN’s Monday Night Football this year, surpassing the 63.9 in New Orleans for the Falcons-Saints game (Nov. 2).

For 2009, ESPN’s MNF telecasts represent cable’s 12 biggest audiences among households and viewers (and 13 of the top 14 among households). Through 12 weeks (13 games) of the NFL season, ESPN’s MNF is averaging a 10.6 rating and 10,447,000 households (14,560,000 P2+), up 18 percent, 18 percent and 19 percent, respectively, from last season.

ESPN DEPORTES

ESPN Deportes’ Spanish-language coverage of Monday Night Football also delivered its highest rating and most-watched NFL game ever. The Patriots-Saints delivered a 1.5 Hispanic rating and 77,000 Hispanic households, surpassing the 1.4 Hispanic rating and 68,000 Hispanic households from the Jets-Dolphins game (Oct. 12). For the season, MNF games on ESPN Deportes are averaging a 1.0 Hispanic rating, 46,000 Hispanic households and 62,000 Hispanic viewers, increases of 150%, 171% and 100%, respectively, from 2008.

ESPN.COM

ESPN.com had 75.6 million page views to NFL content accessed via computers and mobile devices for Monday thru Tuesday at noon -- up 13 percent from the comparable time period last year.  Specifically, page views for the NFL section on computers and mobile were up 20 percent from last year.  Additionally, ESPN.com streamed 1.5 million NFL related videos.

Most-Viewed Monday Night Football Games on ESPN (2006 – Present)

Rank      Date                     Teams                                                              Viewers        HHs       

1            10/05/2009          Green Bay Packers-Minnesota Vikings                    21,839          15,136

2            11/30/2009          New England Patriots-New Orleans Saints          21,402          14,872   

3            09/15/2008          Philadelphia Eagles-Dallas Cowboys                       18,608           12,953

4            12/03/2007          New England Patriots-Baltimore Ravens                   17,522          12,529

5            10/23/2006          New York Giants-Dallas Cowboys                           16,028           11,807

6            11/09/2009          Pittsburgh Steelers-Denver Broncos                         16,002          11,358

7            09/28/2009          Carolina Panthers-Dallas Cowboys                          15,705           11,354

8            09/25/2006          Atlanta Falcons-New Orleans Saints                        14,999          10,850

9            09/21/2009          Indianapolis Colts-Miami Dolphins                           14,710           10,849

10           10/16/2006          Chicago Bears-Arizona Cardinals                            14,231          10,804

Viewer and HH numbers – 000s

Top 10 Most-Viewed Programs in Cable Television History (Households):

Rank      Date                     Teams                                                    Network                HHs (000s)

1            10/05/2009          Green Bay Packers-Minnesota Vikings          ESPN                  15,136

2            11/30/2009          New England Patriots-New Orleans Saints  ESPN                  14,872   

3            09/15/2008          Philadelphia Eagles-Dallas Cowboys                ESPN                  12,953

4            12/03/2007          New England Patriots-Baltimore Ravens       ESPN                  12,529   

5            10/23/2006          New York Giants-Dallas Cowboys                ESPN                     11,807   

6            11/09/2009          Pittsburgh Steelers-Denver Broncos             ESPN                   11,358

7            09/28/2009          Carolina Panthers-Dallas Cowboys              ESPN            11,354   

8            11/09/1993          Larry King (NAFTA Debate)                     CNN                  11,174

9            10/02/2008          Vice Presidential Debate                        FOX NEWS         11,098

10           09/25/2006          Atlanta Falcons-New Orleans Saints           ESPN             10,850

Top 10 Most-Viewed Programs in Cable Television History (Viewers):

Rank      Date                  Teams                                                              Network  Viewers (000s)

1            10/05/2009          Green Bay Packers-Minnesota Vikings                ESPN      21.839

2            11/30/2009          New England Patriots-New Orleans Saints      ESPN      21,402   

3            09/15/2008          Philadelphia Eagles-Dallas Cowboys                   ESPN   18,608                 

4            12/03/2007          New England Patriots-Baltimore Ravens   ESPN              17,522                 

5            08/17/2007          High School Musical 2                            Disney Channel       17,241

6            11/09/1993          Larry King – NAFTA Debate                    CNN                       16,837   

7            12/25/1994          Detroit Lions-Miami Dolphins                   ESPN                     16,063

8            10/23/2006          New York Giants-Dallas Cowboys            ESPN                     16,028

9            11/09/2009          Pittsburgh Steelers-Denver Broncos         ESPN                     16,002   

10           09/28/2009          Carolina Panthers-Dallas Cowboys          ESPN                     15,705   

Note: excluding breaking news; live + same day

Top 3 Ratings in ESPN History:

Rank      Date                  Teams                                                                Rating

1            10/05/2009          Green Bay Packers-Minnesota Vikings                  15.3

2            11/30/2009          New England Patriots-New Orleans Saints        15.0

3            12/06/1987          Chicago Bears-Minnesota Vikings                         14.4                     

RAVENS-PACKERS AT LAMBEAU FIELD THIS WEEK ON MNF

This week’s MNF game on ESPN Dec. 7 will be a matchup of playoff hopefuls when Ray Lewis and the Baltimore Ravens travel to historic Lambeau Field to face Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers at 8:30 p.m. ET. ESPN’s game around the game coverage begins at 3:30 p.m. with NFL Live and continues throughout the afternoon.

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