Two NFL-centric TV Ratings Press Releases

On this Tuesday where I have not been able to provide links, but still provide you with lots of content (that’s the key, isn’t it?), I give you two press releases that came literally within a minute of each other.

I’ll post them in order of arrival. First, ESPN talks about this week’s Monday Night Football ratings. They are down from last week as last night’s Philadelphia-Washington game hardly got people running to their TV sets, but football is king and people still watched.

ESPN’s Monday Night Football Wins the Night in Key Male and Adult Demos

Last night, ESPN’s Monday Night Football game – the Philadelphia Eagles’ 27-17 road victory over the Washington Redskins – earned a 9.4 rating, representing an average of 9,258,000 households (12,766,000 viewers – P2+). MNF led all the night’s programs (broadcast or cable) in all key male and people demos, and it is the seventh most-viewed program on cable television in 2009, surpassed only by other MNF telecasts.

For 2009, the eight MNF telecasts represent cable’s eight biggest audiences in terms of both household impressions and total viewers. Through seven weeks (eight games) of the NFL season, ESPN’s MNF is averaging a 10.7 rating and 10,609,000 households (14,717,000 P2+), up 18%, 20% and 20%, respectively, from last season.

ESPN.COM

ESPN.com had 97.5 million page views to NFL content accessed via computers and mobile devices for Monday through Tuesday at noon — up 35% from the comparable time period last year. Specifically, page views for the NFL section on computers and mobile were up 23% from last year. Additionally, ESPN.com streamed 2.6 million NFL related videos — up 4% from last year.

NEXT WEEK ON MNF

Next week’s MNF matchup on ESPN Nov. 2 will be a showcase of two top NFC South quarterbacks when Matt Ryan leads the 4-2 Atlanta Falcons to New Orleans to face Drew Brees and the undefeated (6-0) Saints at 8:30 p.m. ET. ESPN’s game around the game coverage begins at 3:30 p.m. with NFL Live and continues throughout the afternoon.

And Fox is loving its ratings for Sunday’s Week 7 doubleheader. Just imagine what the ratings will be like next week when Brett Favre and Minnesota visit Green Bay at 4:15 p.m. By the way, that game is going to 91% of the country, the biggest penetration for an NFL doubleheader game this season.

FALCONS-COWBOYS POWERS NFL ON FOX

TO BIGGEST AUDIENCE IN 13 YEARS

Powered by a three-game schedule featuring Falcons-Cowboys and a huge Vikings-Steelers lead-in, Sunday’s NFL on FOX national game (10/25) averaged a tremendous 16.8/32 (28.4 million viewers) and set many impressive benchmarks:

• FOX’s most-watched NFL Sunday telecast since 11/10/96 (Cowboys-49ers, 29.7 million)
• FOX’s highest-rated NFL regular season broadcast since 12/3/06 (Cowboys-Giants)
• The highest-rated and most-watched Sunday NFL telecast on any network since 12/9/07 (Patriots-Steelers on CBS)
• The highest-rated telecast on any network since the Academy Awards back in February (20.6/31, 36.3 mill)

Sunday’s national NFL game, along with THE OT post-game show (9.0/15 -15.1 mill), the ALCS pregame show (8.4/14 – 13.7 mill), and ALCS Game 6 (9.3/15 – 15.5 mill) powered FOX to a first place finish for the night (10.6/17 – 17.8 million viewers), and ranks as FOX’s highest-rated and most-watched Sunday since Super Bowl XLII (02/03/08). Among Adults 18-49, FOX’s 6.2 average rating was also the network’s best Sunday in 20 months.

Through three broadcasts, FOX’s national NFL game is averaging a 14.9/29 (25.2 million viewers), up +10% in rating and +15% in audience compared to the first three national games a year ago (13.6/27, 22.0 mill), +13% better than CBS’s national NFL game (13.2/26, 21.8 mill), +28% better than Sunday Night Football on NBC (11.6/19 , 19.1 mill), and currently ranks as the highest-rated and most-watched program in television across all key male and adult demos including M18-34 (11.6), M18-49 (13.3), M25-54 (15.3), and A18-49 (9.8).

Yup, the NFL is king, but you knew that already.