ESPN concluded its sixth season of Monday Night Football with its fifth largest audience of the 2011 NFL season, but the worldwide leader saw its overall viewership decline nearly 10% from its record-setting performance last year.
ESPN averaged a 9.7 cable rating, 8.4 U.S. rating, 9.59 million households and 13.3 million viewers over 17MNF telecasts in the 2011 season, according to Nielsen data. Those were down from a 10.5 cable mark (off 7.6%), 10.49 million households (an 8.6% decrease) and almost 14.7 million watchers (a 9.5% decline) during its fifth season with the franchise in 2010. Finishing third among its six MNF seasons since succeeding ABC with the primetime franchise, the just-completed campaign also trailed the 10.4 rating, 10.13 million households and 14.4 million viewers recorded during the 2009 season.
Despite the downturns, MNF ranked as the most-watched series on cable television, sporting 13 of the most-watched shows on the medium in calendar 2011. Additionally, ESPN ranked as the No. 1 network each Monday night this season among the coveted males 18-to-34 and 18-to-49 demos in all of TV. ESPN was also No. 1 in men 25 to 54 in 15 of 16 weeks, and first among adults 25 to 54 on 10 Mondays. Four times, ESPN won the night as the most-watched network among households and five times among viewers -- cable or broadcast -- in primetime on Monday.
Click here to read the full story at Multichannel.com.
