"Monday Night Football" Week 4: Substantial 42% Year-Over-Year Audience Growth, as Raiders-Chargers Averages 12.9 Million Viewers
· AFC West Showdown Also Up 19% from MNF's 2019 Week 4 Matchup
· Strong Overall Audience and Growth Despite 35-Minute Weather Delay to Begin Game
· Season-to-Date: MNF Up 20% from 2020 and 22% from 2019
ESPN's Monday Night Football Week 4 presentation featuring the Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Chargers (October 4) delivered a substantial 42% year-over-year viewership increase, as 12.9 million viewers (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Deportes) tuned into the weather-delayed matchup (8:50 p.m. ET kickoff). Despite the 35-minute kickoff delay and the 21-0 Chargers' halftime lead, the audience significantly outpaced last season's MNF Week 4 game (Atlanta-Green Bay) and was also up 19% from the franchise's 2019 Week 4 game (Cincinnati-Pittsburgh).
Viewership reported by Nielsen for ESPN and ESPN2 includes streaming audience across ESPN, NFL, and Yahoo Sports properties.
Season-to-Date: MNF Up Substantially From Both 2020 and 2019; Continues to Deliver Year-Over-Year Audience Growth on Weekly Basis
Through four weeks, ESPN's Monday Night Football is averaging 14.2 million viewers (four games), up 22% from 2019 (five games) and 20% from 2020 (five games).
Furthermore, each week of the Monday Night Football season, the audience has been up double digits from the comparable week in the 2019 season, delivering 17% (Week 1), 13% (Week 2) and 40% (Week 3) gains prior to this week. Compared to last season, MNF has been up three of four weeks (Weeks 1, 3 and 4), falling shy in Week 2 when the 2020 matchup was aired on ABC and ESPN.
Additional Highlights for Raiders-Chargers:
· Monday Night Football was the most-watched telecast of the night among households, viewers, and all key demos: Men 18-34, 18-49, 25-54 and 55+, as well as persons 18-34, 18-49, and 25-54 on ESPN
· Monday Night Football also helped ESPN become the most-watched network (broadcast and cable) in primetime among households, viewers and the same key male and people demos, including P55+
· Local Markets: Las Vegas was the highest-rated market and also showed an 8% increase from MNF Week 1, when the Raiders defeated the Ravens in overtime (18.4 local rating). The complete top 10
Rank Local Market Rating
1 Las Vegas 19.8
2 San Diego 18.4
3 Los Angeles 15.7
4 Sacramento 14.3
5 San Francisco 12.5
6 Kansas City 12.0
7 Cleveland 11.5
8 Cincinnati 11.1
9 Seattle-Tacoma 10.7
10 Indianapolis 9.8
Note: Only 44 markets currently available
· Sunday NFL Countdown delivered 1,325,000 viewers for the pregame show's live edition from Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass., (October 3, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. ET), a 9% year-over-year increase from show's Week 4 program last year.
Monday Night Football Week 5: Baltimore Ravens Ride Three-Game Winning Streak into Showdown with the Indianapolis Colts
Monday Night Football continues with Indianapolis at Baltimore on ESPN (October 11, 8 p.m.) as the Ravens have won three consecutive games following their week 1 overtime defeat on MNF. The Colts are making their first MNF appearance since 2019 and are coming off their first victory of the year. Steve Levy, Brian Griese, Louis Riddick, Lisa Salters, and John Parry will be live from M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore for the call.
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