Aided by a baseball rainout, overnight ratings were down only slightly for Monday’s unappealing 49ers/Rams game.
The Week 6 49ers/Rams Monday Night Football game drew an 8.6 overnight rating on ESPN, down a tick from Colts/Chargers last year (8.7) and down 7% from Broncos/Chargers in 2012 (9.2). The 8.6 is the second-lowest MNF overnight of the season, ahead of only the Chargers/Cardinals late game in Week 1 (7.8).
Five of seven Monday Night Football telecasts this season have had a decline in overnights. Two of those games, however, ended up with increases in the final ratings — and 49ers/Rams could easily become the third such game.
Locally, the ESPN telecast drew an 8.2 rating in St. Louis and an 8.1 in the Bay Area. The game was simulcast on local affiliates in both markets, earning a 7.5 on St. Louis CW affiliate KPLR and a 15.9 on Bay Area CBS affiliate KPIX. Sacramento (20.2), Las Vegas (16.7), San Diego (15.1), made up the rest of the top five markets, reports Sports Media Watch.