Ratings Roundup: Historic Monday Night Football Matchup Dazzles 16.7 Million Viewers, ESPN's Biggest Audience in Two Years By Kristian Hernandez, Assistant Editor
Wednesday, November 21, 2018 - 7:58 am
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Ratings roundup is a rundown of rating news from the past week and is derived from press releases and reports around the industry. In this week's edition, a potential Super Bowl pairing registered 16.7 million viewers, a near-miss upset by Maryland over Ohio State leads college football ratings, Notre Dame on NBC finished its most successful season since 2012, the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Championship on NBC brought in the most viewers in four months, and Fox Sports stole the viewership show this fall.
Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images
Rams Shootout Win Over Chiefs Garner Most-Watched MNF Game Since 2016
A thrilling Los Angeles Rams' 54-51 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday Night Football averaged 16.7 million viewers across ESPN, ESPNEWS, and ESPN Deportes, according to Nielsen. It is the largest MNF audience since December 2016 (18.6 million, Lions-Cowboys) and ESPN's most-viewed telecast since the College Football Playoff National Championship Game on January 8.
Viewership for Chiefs-Rams is up 53% vs. last year's Atlanta-Seattle game in week 11, which averaged 10.9 million viewers across the ESPN networks.
The MNF game was the most-watched telecast of the night among households, viewers and all key male and adult demos (18-34, 18-49, 25-54), and ESPN won the night again among all networks, broadcast or cable, in those same categories. Through 11 weeks of the NFL season (12 games), MNF has helped ESPN win the night all 11 Mondays.
Through 12 games, Monday Night Football is averaging 13.2 million viewers, a 21% increase year-over-year (vs. 10.9 million) - and up 22% from last year's full-season average (10.8 million).
On ESPN, Chiefs-Rams averaged a 9.7 US household rating and 16.6 million viewers - an increase of 54% compared to 10.8 million viewers in week 11 last year. The telecast peaked on the final drive from 11:45 p.m. - 12 a.m. ET as Patrick Mahomes attempted to lead the Chiefs down the field with an 11.1 US household rating and 18.9 million viewers. On ESPN Deportes and ESPNEWS (Spanish-language simulcast), Chiefs-Rams averaged an additional 173,000 viewers, the highest audience on ESPN Deportes so far this season.
Monday night's game was the first MNF game played in Los Angeles in 33 years (October 28, 1985). The Chiefs and Rams combined for 105 points, the highest scoring game in MNF's 49-year history.
In local markets, Kansas City delivered a 16.6 rating on ESPN and a 36.2 rating on KMBC-ABC, for a combined 52.8 rating in the market. In Los Angeles, the game delivered a 10.4 rating on ESPN - the highest rating in the market since 2016 - and a 9.2 on KABC-ABC, for a combined 19.6 rating in the market. The top 10 metered markets (not including those of the competing teams): New Orleans (21.4), San Diego (16.2), Denver (15.7), Seattle-Tacoma (15.5), Phoenix (14.4), Albuquerque-Santa Fe (14.3), Richmond, Va. (14.0), Minneapolis-St. Paul (13.8), Washington, D.C. (13.8), and Las Vegas (13.7)
Thursday Night Football, featuring the Seattle Seahawks' 27-24 win over the Green Bay Packers in Week 11, was seen by an average audience of 17.5 million viewers across all platforms, including Fox, NFL Network, Fox Deportes, NFL digital, Fox Sports digital, Amazon, and Yahoo Sports - up 27% versus last year's Week 11 Thursday Night Football matchup between the Tennessee Titans and Pittsburgh Steelers, and up 23% versus the 2017 10-game Thursday Night Football average (TV digital).
The Nielsen-measured audience was 16.9 million viewers - up 25% versus the 2017 Week 11 Thursday Night Football game (13.5 million) and up 22% versus the 2017 10-game Thursday Night Football average on CBS/NBC and NFL Network (13.8 million). Additionally, Packers-Seahawks averaged a 10.0 HH rating - up 23% versus last year's Titans-Steelers matchup (8.2 HH rating) and 20% versus the 2017 10-game Thursday Night Football average (8.4 HH rating).
Digital streaming across Amazon Prime Video, Twitch, NFL digital platforms, Fox Sports digital platforms, and Yahoo Sports produced an average minute audience of 862K - an increase of 111% vs. last year's Week 11 Thursday Night Football matchup between the Titans and Steelers (409K) and 96% vs. the 2017 10-game average (439K).
Amazon Prime Video and Twitch reached a total of 2.4 million combined viewers worldwide for the Fox NFL Thursday pregame show and the Packers-Seahawks game. For the Packers-Seahawks game alone, 2.1 million worldwide viewers initiated a stream on Prime Video or Twitch. The average worldwide audience watching Thursday Night Football for at least 30 seconds on Prime Video or Twitch was 608K.
The NFL continues to produce strong viewership numbers this season with games accounting for 29 of the top 30 shows on television since kickoff week
The NFL on CBS Week 11 NFL single header, featuring either Steelers-Jaguars or Broncos-Chargers in 78% of markets, had an 8.1 rating and 13.8 million viewers - down 14% in ratings and 12% in viewership from last year (ft. Washington-New Orleans: 9.4, 15.7M) and down 4% and 3% respectively from 2016 (ft. Bears-Giants: 8.4, 14.3M), according to SportsMediaWatch. It was the lowest rated Week 11 single header since at least 2000 and the least-watched since 2003 (13.1M). Of the 11 single header windows this season, it was just the third to hit a multi-year low in ratings or viewership
On Fox, the Eagles-Saints matchup scored a 10.7 rating and 18.4 million viewers, down 2% in ratings and 3% in viewership from last year (mostly Patriots-Raiders: 10.9, 19.0M) and down 18% and 21% respe
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Ratings Roundup: Historic Monday Night Football Matchup Dazzles 16.7 Million Viewers, ESPN's Biggest Audience in Two Years By Kristian Hernandez, Assistant Editor 
