ESPN drew a 9.9 overnight rating for "MNF" last night from 8:15-11:30pm ET, a figure that is down from recent Week 2 "MNF" telecasts, despite the Eagles' last-second win over the Colts. Last night's game is down 4% from a 10.3 overnight for Steelers-Bengals in Week 2 last year and down 12% from an 11.3 rating for Broncos-Falcons in '12, which marked QB Peyton Manning's first "MNF" game with Broncos. Last night's telecast peaked at an 11.2 rating from 9:30-9:45pm. The game drew a 30.0 local rating in the Philadelphia market (16.3 on ESPN, 13.7 on WPHL-Ind). In Indianapolis, the game drew a 35.9 local rating (14.7 on ESPN, 21.2 on WRTV-ABC) (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor).
PERSONAL PERSPECTIVES: In N.Y., Richard Sandomir writes following recent events in the NFL, it “became clear that wise voices were needed on sports networks.” What “stood out most over the last few days have been personal perspectives.” On Sunday, ESPN’s Tom Jackson, Cris Carter, Ray Lewis, Keyshawn Johnson and Mike Ditka “spoke about being physically disciplined.” Earlier in the day, the net’s Hannah Storm “delivered a commentary on SportsCenter that was also personal -- based on questions from one of her three daughters about the Rice case.” Prior to CBS’ “TNF” last week, the net’s James Brown “delivered an eloquent call to action on domestic violence,” using his “personal link to the issue.” Through the Verizon Foundation, Brown "has worked on domestic violence, sitting in on a crisis hotline in Austin, Tex.; talking to high school and college football coaches to help change their -- and their players’ -- attitudes toward women; and interviewing domestic violence victims for public service announcements.” But maybe the “most pointed personal viewpoint” came from former NFLer Bart Scott on CBS’ “The NFL Today.” Scott said that Ray Rice “was his fifth teammate to have been accused or convicted of domestic violence.” Scott also admitted that he “sought help for his rage” this past offseason (N.Y. TIMES, 9/16).
GOOD GIRL GONE BAD: SI.com's Brendan Maloy notes Rihanna "is not happy at CBS" after the net pulled her version of "Run This Town" prior to last week's Steelers-Ravens game. She tweeted this morning, "CBS you pulled my song last week, now you wanna slide it back in this Thursday? NO, F--k you! Y'all are sad for penalizing me for this." Maloy notes the song is set to air prior to each "TNF" game, but was pulled "due to the Ray Rice domestic abuse controversy" (SI.com, 9/16). The N.Y. Times' Bill Carter tweeted that CBS for this Thursday's Buccaneers-Falcons "TNF" will replace Rihanna's song with "theme music created internally," but the rest of the "planned opening will appear," with actor Don Cheadle as the centerpiece (TWITTER.com, 9/16).
OUT ROUTE: FS1 analyst Brian Urlacher has left "America's Pregame" and "Fox NFL Kickoff," effective immediately. His last show was Sunday. The former NFLer announced at the end of Sunday's show that he made the decision because he wanted to spend more time with his family. Urlacher joined FS1 before the channel launched last August and joined host Joel Klatt and analysts Randy Moss and Ronde Barber on the Sunday morning "Fox NFL Kickoff" show. Fox Sports Exec Exec Producer John Entz in a statement said, “While we looked forward to having him as a member of the team this season and beyond, we understand his decision and wish him the best” (John Ourand, Staff Writer).
