“Monday Night Football” had a huge debut in its first week with two games featuring three mediocre teams and one good one.
With two potentially great teams slugging it out in week two, ESPN had its best-ever showing in its 27-year history.
Monday night’s game pitting the Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers against the now 2-0 Jacksonville Jaguars averaged a 9.4 overnight Nielsen cable rating, up 8 percent over the 8.7 earned by last week’s Washington Redskins-Minnesota Vikings game. It also drew 9.81 million households. Final ratings are due out today.
It will likely be the second-most-watched program ever on basic cable, behind only CNN's 2003 NAFTA debate with Al Gore and Ross Perot seen by 11.17 million households.
Equally impressive, it was up 24 percent over the week two game of “Sunday Night Football” last year, which averaged a 7.6. Last year “SNF” aired on ESPN and “MNF” aired on ABC.
In fact, thus far “MNF” hasn’t been too far behind the opening-weeks averages from last year despite ESPN being available in roughly 30 million fewer homes than ABC. It just goes to prove that football fans will follow the games no matter where they are and don’t care whether it's cable or broadcast.
It is also a credit to ESPN’s promotion of the “Monday Night” switcheroo, which is really no surprise. The network has always excelled at self-promotion, and between its “Is it Monday yet” campaign promoting the change and extensive media coverage given to Tony Kornheiser’s addition to the booth, “MNF” hasn’t dipped as much in its new home as many media people thought it would.
The question that then raises is just what effect “MNF” will have on Monday nights overall. It will likely impact CBS, whose adults 18-49 average dipped slightly from last year on opening night, and Fox, whose “Prison Break” is the least-female-skewing show on broadcast on Mondays.
And it may already have hurt NBC’s new drama “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,” which surely lost some sampling from would-be viewers who caught the show on the internet ahead of time in order to watch “MNF” live.
It may take weeks before “MNF’s” impact on the night is fully apparent. In the meantime, it looks like many of the viewers switching to cable are older men, according to a Magna Global U.S. analysis.
“Overall, it appears that the move to Mondays has drawn older male viewers to ESPN, but some younger male viewers have been lost in the shuffle,” a report issued last week says.
Meanwhile, in other cable ratings for the week ended Sept. 17:
Top five networks in primetime (18-49s): ESPN, TNT, USA, FX, TBSC
Top five networks in primetime (total viewers): ESPN, TNT, USA, Lifetime, Cartoon Network
Top movie (18-49s): TNT’s “Kill Bill: Vol. 2” (Saturday, 8 p.m.) 1.919 million
Top sporting event (total viewers): ESPN’s “Vikings/Redskins” (Monday, 7 p.m.) 12.57 million
Shows making the top 10 among 18-34s, 18-49s and 25-54s: ESPN’s “Vikings/Redskins” (Monday, 7 p.m.), ESPN’s “Chargers/Raiders” (Monday, 10:22 p.m.) VH1’s “Flavor of Love 2” (Sunday, 10 p.m.); Bravo’s “Project Runway” (Wednesday 10 p.m.); ESPN’s “Sports Center” (Monday 1:14 a.m.); FX’s “Nip Tuck” (Tuesday, 10 p.m.); USA’s “WWE Entertainment” (Monday, 10 p.m.); USA’s “WWE Entertainment” (Monday, 9 p.m.); TNT’s “Kill Bill: Vol. 2” (Saturday, 8 p.m.)
Show on the rise: Adult Swim’s “Robot Chicken,” Sunday 11:30 p.m. Seth Green’s animated show bettered its third-season premiere by 43 percent, averaging 725,000 adults 18-34 for its fourth-season bow Sunday.
Show on the decline: TNT’s "Nextel Cup Racing/Loudon," Sunday 1:20 p.m. Now that racers have made the Cup chase, things are less compelling: Households viewing the race were down nearly 2 million from the previous week.
|
TOP 25 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS
Ranked on Household Rating
Week Ending Sept. 17 |
|
Rank |
Primetime |
Total Day |
|
Net |
(000) |
Net |
(000) |
|
1 |
ESPN |
2724 |
NICK |
1495 |
|
2 |
USA |
1847 |
TNT |
1151 |
|
3 |
TNT |
1839 |
ESPN |
1051 |
|
4 |
LIF |
1385 |
NAN* |
1002 |
|
5 |
TOON |
1247 |
TOON |
902 |
|
6 |
FOXN |
1140 |
USA |
883 |
|
7 |
NAN |
1082 |
ADSM* |
849 |
|
8 |
AEN |
1022 |
LIF |
847 |
|
9 |
TBSC |
987 |
FOXN |
725 |
|
10 |
FX |
944 |
AEN |
641 |
|
11 |
HGTV |
927 |
TBSC |
630 |
|
12 |
HALL |
891 |
HALL |
555 |
|
13 |
DISC |
887 |
DISC |
519 |
|
14 |
SCIF |
859 |
TVLD |
519 |
|
15 |
HIST |
828 |
HGTV |
516 |
|
16 |
MTV |
776 |
HIST |
488 |
|
17 |
SPK |
767 |
MTV |
483 |
|
18 |
VH1 |
762 |
FX |
480 |
|
19 |
AMC |
758 |
FOOD |
463 |
|
20 |
TVLD |
742 |
FAM |
445 |
|
21 |
CORT |
728 |
CNN |
420 |
|
22 |
CMDY |
684 |
SCIF |
420 |
|
23 |
FAM |
657 |
AMC |
413 |
|
24 |
TLC |
657 |
CMDY |
408 |
|
25 |
BRAV |
611 |
SPK |
407 |
|
* Network broadcasts less than 51% of minutes in a 24-hour day.
Source: Turner Entertainment Research based on data from Nielsen Media Research. |
|
TOP 25 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE PROGRAMS
Ranked on Households
Week Ending Sept. 17 |
|
Rank |
Program |
Net |
(000) |
|
1 |
Vikings/Redskins |
ESPN |
9177 |
|
2 |
Chargers/Raiders |
ESPN |
7872 |
|
3 |
Nextel Cup Racing/Loudon |
TNT |
3446 |
|
4 |
WWE Entertainment |
USA |
3357 |
|
5 |
Spongebob |
NICK |
3349 |
|
6 |
WWE Entertainment |
USA |
3327 |
|
7 |
Project Runway |
BRAV |
3035 |
|
8 |
Nip Tuck |
FX |
2991 |
|
9 |
Spongebob |
NICK |
2986 |
|
10 |
Cries In The Dark |
LIF |
2845 |
|
11 |
Avatar: Secret/Firenation |
NICK |
2795 |
|
12 |
Fairly Odd Parents |
NICK |
2776 |
|
13 |
Spongebob |
NICK |
2735 |
|
14 |
Fairly Odd Parents |
NICK |
2650 |
|
15 |
Spongebob |
NICK |
2642 |
|
16 |
Law & Order |
TNT |
2575 |
|
17 |
Drake & Josh |
NICK |
2574 |
|
18 |
Law & Order: SVU |
USA |
2566 |
|
19 |
Kill Bill: Vol. 2 |
TNT |
2533 |
|
20 |
Flavor of Love 2 |
VH1 |
2520 |
|
21 |
Spongebob |
NICK |
2459 |
|
22 |
Jimmy Neutron |
NICK |
2416 |
|
23 |
Spongebob |
NICK |
2396 |
|
24 |
Avatar |
NICK |
2393 |
|
25 |
Drake & Josh |
NICK |
2386 |
|
Source: Turner Entertainment Research based on data from Nielsen Media Research. |
|
TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS
Adults 18-34
Week Ending Sept. 17 |
|
Rank |
PRIME TIME |
TOTAL DAY |
|
Net |
(000) |
Net |
(000) |
|
1 |
ESPN |
788 |
ADSM* |
371 |
|
2 |
TNT |
513 |
ESPN |
356 |
|
3 |
FX |
454 |
TNT |
349 |
|
4 |
USA |
454 |
NICK |
319 |
|
5 |
VH1 |
374 |
NAN* |
301 |
|
6 |
TBSC |
367 |
TBSC |
240 |
|
7 |
MTV |
364 |
MTV |
239 |
|
8 |
SPK |
300 |
USA |
236 |
|
9 |
AEN |
298 |
FX |
215 |
|
10 |
DISC |
281 |
VH1 |
187 |
|
* Network broadcasts less than 51% of minutes in a 24-hour day.
Source: Turner Entertainment Research based on data from Nielsen Media Research. |
|
TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE SHOWS
Adults 18-34
Week Ending Sept. 17 |
|
Rank |
PROGRAM |
NET |
(000) |
|
1 |
Chargers/Raiders |
ESPN |
2848 |
|
2 |
Vikings/Redskins |
ESPN |
2829 |
|
3 |
Nip Tuck |
FX |
1673 |
|
4 |
Flavor of Love 2 |
VH1 |
1411 |
|
5 |
Project Runway |
BRAV |
1393 |
|
6 |
WWE Entertainment |
USA |
1288 |
|
7 |
WWE Entertainment |
USA |
1101 |
|
8 |
Kill Bill: Vol. 2 |
TNT |
974 |
|
9 |
Sportscenter |
ESPN |
964 |
|
10 |
Flavor of Love 2 |
VH1 |
939 |
|
Source: Turner Entertainment Research based on data from Nielsen Media Research. |
|
TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS
Adults 18-49
Week Ending Sept. 17 |
|
Rank |
PRIME TIME |
TOTAL DAY |
|
Net |
(000) |
Net |
(000) |
|
1 |
ESPN |
1739 |
TNT |
729 |
|
2 |
TNT |
1115 |
ESPN |
706 |
|
3 |
USA |
1044 |
NAN* |
502 |
|
4 |
FX |
759 |
USA |
493 |
|
5 |
TBSC |
722 |
ADSM* |
487 |
|
6 |
AEN |
688 |
NICK |
485 |
|
7 |
DISC |
631 |
TBSC |
443 |
|
8 |
LIF |
612 |
LIF |
437 |
|
9 |
VH1 |
583 |
AEN |
390 |
|
10 |
SPK |
582 |
FX |
372 |
|
* Network broadcasts less than 51% of minutes in a 24-hour day.
Source: Turner Entertainment Research based on data from Nielsen Media Research. |
|
TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE SHOWS
Adults 18-49
Week Ending Sept. 17 |
|
Rank |
PROGRAM |
NET |
(000) |
|
1 |
Vikings/Redskins |
ESPN |
6194 |
|
2 |
Chargers/Raiders |
ESPN |
5846 |
|
3 |
Nip Tuck |
FX |
2750 |
|
4 |
Project Runway |
BRAV |
2543 |
|
5 |
WWE Entertainment |
USA |
2465 |
|
6 |
Nextel Cup Racing/Loudon |
TNT |
2261 |
|
7 |
Flavor of Love 2 |
VH1 |
2170 |
|
8 |
WWE Entertainment |
USA |
2110 |
|
9 |
Kill Bill: Vol. 2 |
TNT |
1919 |
|
10 |
Sportscenter |
ESPN |
1820 |
|
Source: Turner Entertainment Research based on data from Nielsen Media Research. |
|
TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS
Adults 25-54
Week Ending Sept. 17 |
|
|
PRIME TIME |
TOTAL DAY |
|
Rank |
Net |
(000) |
Net |
(000) |
|
1 |
ESPN |
1817 |
TNT |
723 |
|
2 |
TNT |
1125 |
ESPN |
694 |
|
3 |
USA |
1034 |
LIF |
479 |
|
4 |
LIF |
739 |
USA |
468 |
|
5 |
AEN |
695 |
AEN |
391 |
|
6 |
DISC |
658 |
TBSC |
385 |
|
7 |
TBSC |
652 |
NAN* |
373 |
|
8 |
FX |
640 |
NICK |
359 |
|
9 |
SCIF |
624 |
DISC |
353 |
|
10 |
SPK |
556 |
FX |
309 |
|
* Network broadcasts less than 51% of minutes in a 24-hour day.
Source: Turner Entertainment Research based on data from Nielsen Media Research. |
|
TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE SHOWS
Adults 25-54
Week Ending Sept. 17 |
|
Rank |
PROGRAM |
NET |
(000) |
|
1 |
Vikings/Redskins |
ESPN |
6572 |
|
2 |
Chargers/Raiders |
ESPN |
5653 |
|
3 |
Nextel Cup Racing/Loudon |
TNT |
2430 |
|
4 |
Project Runway |
BRAV |
2369 |
|
5 |
Nip Tuck |
FX |
2308 |
|
6 |
WWE Entertainment |
USA |
2244 |
|
7 |
WWE Entertainment |
USA |
1895 |
|
8 |
Kill Bill: Vol. 2 |
TNT |
1787 |
|
9 |
Sportscenter |
ESPN |
1643 |
|
10 |
Flavor of Love 2 |
VH1 |
1569 |
|
Source: Turner Entertainment Research based on data from Nielsen Media Research. |
