ESPN earned an 8.6 overnight rating for the 49ers' 31-17 "MNF" win over the Rams last night, down slightly from an 8.7 figure for the comparable Colts-Chargers game in '13. Last year's Week 6 "MNF" game had competition from Cardinals-Dodgers NLCS Game 3 on TBS, while last night's matchup was not up against an MLB game after Orioles-Royals ALCS Game 3 was postponed due to rain. In the S.F.-Oakland-San Jose market, the game earned a 24.1 rating (8.1 rating on ESPN and a 15.9 on KPIX-CBS). In St. Louis, the game scored a 15.7 local rating (8.2 rating on ESPN and a 7.5 figure on KPLR-CW). 49ers-Rams peaked from 9:30-9:45pm ET with a 10.1 rating (Josh Carpenter, Staff Writer).
DEAD AHEAD: In N.Y., Bill Carter notes the season premiere of AMC's “The Walking Dead” on Sunday night "shattered its own previous record as the most-watched drama in cable television history" with 17.3 million viewers for the 9:00pm ET telecast. The show was "so overpowering it even crushed the NFL." "The Walking Dead" averaged 11.0 million viewers in the 18-49 demo -- which is "preferred by many advertisers" -- and was 2.5 million viewers higher than NBC's Giants-Eagles "SNF" in the demo (N.Y. TIMES, 10/14).
UNSTOPPABLE FORCE: In Boston, Alex Reimer writes NFL ratings "are high when the contests aren’t competitive, and astronomical when they are." There is a reason A-B "didn’t pull its contract with the NFL last month," despite the league's handling of the Ray Rice scandal. A-B execs "knew that the army of pitchforks would move on to the next crisis within a couple of weeks." All they "had to do was weather the storm." Ad dollars "don’t care" about intangibles like image and brand, but they "do care about eyeballs, and more people are tuning in to the NFL now than ever before" (BOSTON HERALD, 10/14).
TROUBLING DEBUT: PRO FOOTBALL TALK's Michael David Smith noted Fox play-by-play man Mike Goldberg made his NFL debut with Sunday's Lions-Vikings game, and "many fans came away unimpressed." When those fans "told him so on Twitter, Goldberg did not react well." In a series of tweets, Goldberg "dropped the F-bomb on one fan, called another fan an 'a–hole,' and a third fan a 'douche.'” Smith: "When you’re a public figure and someone acts like a jerk toward you on Twitter, you’re better off ignoring it than responding with an F-bomb. And in fairness to the fans, Goldberg really did make quite a few mistakes." He "stumbled over names, got faked out on play-action passes, misidentified players and coaches and lost track of the down and distance." Goldberg’s "primary job" is working as a UFC commentator for Fox, so that connection is "apparently how he drew the NFL assignment." But perhaps Fox "needed someone with more experience in the NFL." An "obvious choice would have been veteran sideline reporter Pam Oliver, who seems to be getting phased out" (PROFOOTBALLTALK.com, 10/13).
