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For Immediate Release
ESPN PR
December 28 , 2007
860-766-2000

Monday Night Football: Most-Watched Series On Cable

Four Biggest Cable Household Audiences Of 2007, Nine Of Top 10 All-Time;
ESPN.com Averages 47 Million Page Views On Mon./Tues., Up 36% From 2006

ESPN’s second season of Monday Night Football was the most-watched series on cable television in 2007, set an all-time viewership record and drew the four biggest cable household audiences and 16 of the top 20 this year. In two seasons on ESPN, Monday Night Football has registered nine of the top 10 all-time biggest household audiences in cable history, led by the Patriots-Ravens telecast earliest this month, which attracted cable’s largest household audience ever. The accompanying “Monday Night Surround” content this season on ESPN.com sparked an increase of Monday (through Tuesday at noon ET) traffic to the site of 36%.

“ESPN’s Monday Night Football was another resounding success this season,” said George Bodenheimer, president, ESPN and ABC Sports. “Our telecasts produced some of the most memorable moments of the 2007 NFL season and for the second straight year, we shattered the all-time record for the biggest household audience in cable history. We are very proud to continue building on the incomparable tradition of this great franchise by bringing sports fans quality football content across many outlets.”

MNF on TV

MNF occupies nine of the top 10 spots on the list of cable’s biggest household audiences ever (excludes breaking news), including the new #1 in both households and viewers, the December 3 New England Patriots at Baltimore Ravens game (12,529,000 homes and 17,529,000 total viewers, based on a 13.0 rating).

ESPN’s NFL games account for 16 of the top 20 biggest household audiences (and nine of the top 10) for any basic cable television program in 2007.  They rank first, second, third, fourth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 16th, 17th, 18th, and 19th. 

Other highlights for the 2007 NFL season:

  • ESPN led all networks – cable or broadcast – in delivery of all key male demos on Mondays in primetime: men 18-34, men 18-49 and men 25-54. 
  • Five times, ESPN was the most-watched network – cable or broadcast – in primetime on Monday.
  • Since the start of the NFL season, ESPN has led all cable networks in overall household delivery in primetime (an average of 2,329,000 households throughout the week). 
  • For the past 11 consecutive weeks, ESPN has led all cable networks in delivery of adult men on a total-day basis, as well as men 18-54. 

 

ESPN’s NFL Studio Shows Strong:

  • The household audience for Sunday NFL Countdown is up 5% (from 2,071,000 to 2,168,000)
  • The weekday NFL Live show has seen a 20% rise in viewership (from 515,000 to 620,000).

“Monday Night Surround” on ESPN.com

Also, NFL content on ESPN.com, including “Monday Night Surround,” accessed via computers and mobile devices generated an average of more than 47 million page views from Monday through Tuesday at noon, up 36% over 2006 according to Web measurement tool HitBox (data does not yet include this week’s totals).

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