ESPN posted cable's largest audience ever with its New England Patriots-Baltimore Ravens Monday Night Football game, drawing an average 17.52 million total viewers from 8:30 p.m.-11:45 p.m., according to Nielsen Media Research.
That broke a record that sister Disney-owned network Disney Channel set in August for the premiere of its High School Musical 2, which drew 17.24 million.
ESPN drew more viewers than any broadcast or cable network during primetime Monday with households, total viewers and key demos, including adults 18-49 and 25-54, marking the third time the network's MNF achieved the feat this season.
The Patriots' last-minute victory (27-24) led to a peak viewing in the game's final half hour, from 11:30 p.m.-11:45 p.m., when the network averaged 23.87 million viewers -- 31% of the U.S. television homes watching TV at the time, according to the network.
