MNF CLOSES THE GAP: ABC’s one-week tenure at the top of the Monday night ratings charts ended Sept. 19, as the season premiere of “CSI: Miami” outdrew “Monday Night Football” by 1.67 million households. The good news for ABC: The gap was about half a million less than last year’s comparable week, and this year’s Redskins-Cowboys matchup outdrew the premier of “Two and a Half Men” by more than 1 million households.
ESPN GETS DOUBLE DOSE OF NFL: ESPN averaged 2.06 million prime-time households for the week of Sept. 19-25, good for second place, just 18,000 behind the top-ranked Fox News Channel. The second half of the Monday night N.Y.Giants-New Orleans Saints game averaged 2.98 million cable households; the first half aired on ABC.
Top 10 Network Sports Telecasts |
| Rank | net | program | date | rating | share | (000s) households watching |
| 1 | CBS | NFL: REGIONAL COVERAGE (LATE GAMES) | 9/25 | 12.3 | 23 | 13592 |
| 2 | ABC | NFL: MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL (GIANTS-N.O.; WAS.-DAL.) | 9/19 | 10.8 | 18 | 11937 |
| 3 | ABC | NFL: MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL (GIANTS-N.O.) | 9/19 | 9.4 | 16 | 10373 |
| 4 | ABC | NFL MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL PREGAME | 9/19 | 8.8 | 14 | 9739 |
| 5 | CBS | NFL: REGIONAL COVERAGE (EARLY GAMES) | 9/25 | 8.8 | 19 | 9724 |
| 6 | FOX | NFL: REGIONAL COVERAGE (EARLY GAMES) | 9/25 | 8.8 | 19 | 9677 |
| 7 | ABC | NFL: MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL POSTGAME | 9/19 | 6.2 | 16 | 6817 |
| 8 | FOX | NFL: REGIONAL COVERAGE (LATE GAMES) | 9/25 | 5.1 | 10 | 5588 |
| 9 | ABC | COLLEGE FOOTBALL (GA. TECH-VA. TECH; NTR. DM.-WAS.) | 9/24 | 3.9 | 9 | 4307 |
| 10 | ABC | COLLEGE FOOTBALL: REGIONAL COVERAGE | 9/24 | 3.8 | 10 | 4189 |
Top 10 Cable Sports Telecasts |
| | | | | —Rating— | | households watching (000s) |
| Rank | net | program | date | national | cov. area | share |
| 1 | ESPN | NFL: SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL (GIANTS-SAN DIEGO) | 9/25 | 6.5 | 8.0 | 12 | 7199 |
| 2 | TNT | NASCAR: NEXTEL CUP SERIES MNBA 400 | 9/25 | 3.1 | 3.8 | 8 | 3411 |
| 3 | TNT | NEXTEL: MNBA 400 POSTRACE | 9/25 | 3.1 | 3.8 | 7 | 3385 |
| 4 | ESPN | NFL: MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL SPECIAL (GIANTS-N.O.) | 9/19 | 2.7 | 3.3 | 5 | 2983 |
| 5 | ESPN | NFL: PRIME TIME | 9/25 | 2.6 | 3.1 | 5 | 2820 |
| 6 | ESPN | SPORTSCENTER (LATE) | 9/25 | 2.3 | 2.8 | 7 | 2537 |
| 7 | ESPN2 | COLLEGE FOOTBALL: MICH./WISC. | 9/24 | 1.8 | 2.3 | 4 | 2013 |
| 8 | TNT | NASCAR: NEXTEL CUP PRE-RACE SHOW | 9/25 | 1.7 | 2.1 | 5 | 1915 |
| 9 | ESPN | NFL COUNTDOWN | 9/25 | 1.5 | 1.9 | 5 | 1698 |
| 10 | ESPN | COLLEGE GAMEDAY SCOREBOARD | 9/24 | 1.5 | 1.9 | 4 | 1667 |
Rating — Estimated percent of all TV households of persons tuned to a specific program source. One ratings point equals 1,102,000 homes.
Share — Estimated percent of all households using television at that time which are tuned to a specific program source.Source: Nielsen Media Research— Estimated percent of all households using television at that time which are tuned to a specific program source.Source: Nielsen Media Research
