With the Packers hot and the Falcons somehow in playoff contention, Monday Night Football earned its best overnight in several weeks.
The Week 14 Falcons/Packers Monday Night Football game drew a 9.0 overnight rating on ESPN, down 18% from Cowboys/Bears last year (11.0), down 18% from Texans/Patriots in 2012 (10.0), and the highest rated MNF telecast in the metered markets since Washington/Cowboys in Week 8 (12.1).
Despite the multi-week high, the Packers’ high-scoring win was the fourth straight MNF telecast — and the fifth in the past six weeks — to have a double-digit decline in overnights.
Overall, 12 of the 15 MNF telecasts this season have had declines in overnights, though four of those 12 ended up with an increase in the final ratings. A similar turnaround is highly unlikely for this week’s game.\, reports Sports Media Watch.