Update 2:30p PDT: The game drew a whopping 18.608 million viewers, topping the previous high for MNF on ESPN (last year’s Raven/Patriots matchup which drew 17.522 million). This could perhaps be not only a record for MNF on ESPN, but a record for cable viewing in general. We’ll see when the press release comes out soon. Still haven’t seen a release but our contacts at ABC/ESPN say the game did set the record for cable viewing.
It’s too early to tell, but this game might set the record of most viewed Monday Night Football game on ESPN. We’ll see, but it was a very fun game to watch either way!. Here are some early metered market numbers including the Dallas and Philadelphia markets from our friends at ESPN. We’ll do a separate post once ESPN has issued a release based on the final numbers:
Last night’s Philadelphia Eagles-Dallas Cowboys ESPN Monday Night Football game (8:30pm-12am) did a 12.4 Mtrd Mkt Rtg. This metered market average is ESPN’s highest MNF metered market rating to date. It’s just above last year’s 12.2 for the record-setting New England-Baltimore game (12/3/07) which eventually delivered a 13.0 HH coverage rating and currently stands as the most-viewed telecast in cable history. It’s very possible that last night’s game will become the new No. 1.
· In Dallas, the game delivered a 19.9 HH rtg on ESPN and a 17.6 HH rtg on KTXA-IND, for a combined 37.5 rating.
· In Philadelphia, the game delivered a 15.5 HH rtg on ESPN and a 26.8 HH rtg on WPVI-ABC, for a combined 42.2 rating.
So, does this mean that the football actually affect monday night series, like PB or TSCC?????
Dexter, Of course it does. It grabs lots of the desirable young male viewers. Problem for the competition is that they don’t get to air on Monday night *without* MNF until January, so its a moot point.
So this football will air untill January? So, if PB (when retunrs in march from hiatus) get’s good numbers because there will no longer be football, will FOX looked at that and renew it?
I forgot to ask – does FOX realize that it is a football night on monday night?
yes, Fox realizes it. And not all matchups are equal as Cowboys draw a lot of national viewers. Next week’s contest features Favre and the Jets vs. the Chargers. While the Jets aren’t as good as the Cowboys, Favre and the New York market, plus Dancing With the Stars and original episodes on CBS should make for an even more competitive night than last night with Cowboys/Eagles.
Should we expect these numbers to have a major impact on TSCC & PB or is that just wishful thinking? In my mind I would think it would be a pretty big cut into the same audience?
What I mean is, should we take these high football numbers as an explanation for the lower than usual numbers for TSCC & PB, rather than low ratings cause no one cares about the shows?
I wanna know too what 1982 is asking… my question is, does FOX know that the low ratings are because of the football?
This could have an effect, but keep in mind that PB was up against MNF last year too, so this isn’t new competition.
1982 until I see the viewer numbers, its hard to say and it’s not easy to compare to last week as neither of the MNF matchups was as glamorous plus there were 2 Monday Night games causing different start-times. If last night’s game had 5 million more than last week’s (first MNF game had 12.5 million viewers) it’s probably reasonable to conclude it took more of a toll than it took on TSCC last week, but TSCC numbers were not great last week either.
My opinion is that new Chuck,Dancing With the Stars, New Big Bang Theory and How I Met Your Mother will be harder on TSCC even if next week’s MNF matchup doesn’t do nearly as well as this week’s. We’ll see for sure in one week.
every timeslot is going to have competition. The test of a show’s strength is if it can get even decent ratings against that competition. T:SCC obviously can’t.
Maybe it is football’s fault for PB’s numbers because the numbers are strange… if you look: first episode had 6.06 million, second had 7,03, third had 6,48 and last episode (today) had 5,89… so what’s this now, down, up, down…? Maybe next week Heroes will not do well too, because of the football, what do you think? And tell me one more thing – if PB finished first or second in demos against all other competition (heroes and so on), is PB safe then?
Dexter, I suggest we wait until next week and then revisit this discussion in next Monday night’s overnight ratings post.
Better still, Robert, let’s see how House and Fringe perform tonight. If Fringe pulls TSCC-like numbers with the House lead-in and no MNF competition, maybe, just maybe, that will be good news for TSCC.
Can you tell I’m desperately clinging to any justification to keep the show on the air?
Outlander, while that would get Fringe canceled VERY quickly, I’m not sure that it would really change anything for T:SCC.
Outlander , i think it is more realistic to have a hope that Fox will move TSCC to wed and replace comedies at 9
i would watch prison break on tv if it wasnt for monday night football. Instead i just watch it online a day or two after it airs. Football will always be #1.