Wrapping up a fairly soft Week 2 of the NFL season, overnights slipped for ESPN’s Monday Night Football.
The Week 2 Colts/Eagles Monday Night Football game drew a 9.9 overnight rating on ESPN, down 4% from Steelers/Bengals last year (10.3), down 12% from Broncos/Falcons in 2012 (11.3), and the network’s lowest Week 2 overnight since Rams/Giants in 2011 (8.8).
The 9.9 did top both of ESPN’s Week 1 games, which drew overnights of 9.2 (Giants/Lions) and 7.8 (Chargers/Cardinals).
Monday Night Football tied the lowest overnight rating of Week 2, matching the early doubleheader game on CBS. Now that Thursday Night Football is airing on both NFL Network and CBS, MNF is likely to finish in last place during most weeks of the season.
Locally, ESPN’s telecast drew a 16.3 rating in Philadelphia and a 14.7 in Indianapolis. The game was simulcast on local affiliates in both markets, earning a 13.7 on independent Philadelphia affiliate WPHL and a 21.2 on Indianapolis ABC affiliate WRTV, reports Sports Media Watch.