ESPN earned a 10.3 overnight for last night’s Steelers-Bengals “MNF” telecast, down 9% from an 11.3 rating for the Broncos-Falcons matchup in Week 2 last year. The 10.3 rating is up from an 8.8 overnight for Rams-Giants in ’11, but down from a 10.6 for Saints-49ers in ’10. In Pittsburgh, the game earned an 11.9 local rating on ESPN and a 27.9 rating on WTAE-ABC. In Cincinnati, the game earned a 14.4 local rating on ESPN and a 23.9 rating on WLWT-NBC. Dayton, Baltimore and Richmond rounded out the top five highest-rated markets (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor).
HIGHS & LOWS: In Houston, David Barron reported the Texans' OT win over the Titans on Sunday recorded a 24.8 local rating on KHOU-CBS. That compares to a 22.2 rating for the Week 1 home opener against the Dolphins last year and 22.5 for the Week 2 game at the Jaguars. Meanwhile, Comcast SportsNet Houston earned a 0.04 local rating for the Angels-Astros game on Saturday, marking a "record low audience" for an Astros game on an RSN in the Houston market. The previous low was a 0.05 rating on FS Houston for Astros-Reds on Sept. 9, 2012 (CHRON.com, 9/16).
TOPICS OF CONVERSATION: In S.F., Scott Ostler wrote CBSSN's Amy Trask is the "gutsiest person in pro football." Trask is taking "a strong stand for dumping the ugly nickname" of the Redskins. She is "not the only person taking this position, but Trask has the most to lose." The "old-schoolers will be all over Trask, calling her a lightweight softie sellout to new-age political over-correctness" (SFGATE.com, 9/16). Meanwhile, in Akron, George Thomas writes during all of the NFL pregame shows Sunday morning, "two topics dominated discussion." One was Lions DT Ndamukong Suh and the other was Patriots QB Tom Brady (AKRON BEACON JOURNAL, 9/17).
