In spite of Tony Kornheiser’s best efforts to get people to change the channel, the Eagles-Cowboys MNF game for Week Two pulled a ridiculous 13.3 rating, with an average of 12,953,000 million homes, and over 18 million total viewers! Via ESPN….
Last night, ESPN’s Monday Night Football – the Dallas Cowboys’ 41-37 home victory over the Philadelphia Eagles – delivered the biggest audience in the history of cable television. The game earned a 13.3 rating, representing 12,953,000 homes (18,608,000 P2+), edging the previous record, ESPN’s New England – Baltimore Monday Night Football telecast of December 3, 2007 (12,529,000 homes, based on a 13.0 rating, 17,522,000 P2+).
Last night’s telecast is the most-watched prime-time NFL game of the 2008 season to date. It also is ESPN’s third-highest rating of all time, trailing only two other NFL games: Chicago at Minnesota on December 6, 1987 (14.4 rating; 8,400,000 homes), and Detroit at Miami on Christmas 1994 (14.2 rating; 8,927,000).
The game not only won the night for ESPN last night across all networks (both cable and network TV), but also topped NBC’s Sunday Night Game (Cle-Pit, 17.8 P2+) by a little under a million viewers. Again, the big time shows haven’t started yet and it’ll be interesting if the Monday Nighter can win this week over the debuts of the Biggest Loser and House, as well as the finale of Big Brother 10 (all on Tuesday), but it’s going to be in the Top Five for sure.
Here’s what it would look like if you compare the game to the top ten during the week of Monday, September 8th….
Monday Night Football, ESPN, 18.6 million (9/16/2008)
1. Sunday Night Football, NBC, 17.8 million
2. Sunday Night NFL Pre-Kick, NBC, 13.6 million
3. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 12.5 million
4. Saturday Night Football- OSU vs. USC, ABC, 11.9 million
5. “America’s Got Talent” Wednesday, NBC, 11.7 million
6. “America’s Got Talent” Tuesday, NBC, 11.6 million
7. Football Night in America Part 3, NBC, 10.9 million
8. “America’s Got Talent” Thursday, NBC, 9.8 million
9. “Deal or No Deal” Monday, NBC, 9.7 million
10. “Two and a Half Men,” CBS, 9.2 million
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