NOT READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL?: Ratings for ABC’s “Monday Night Football” continue to fall compared to previous years — 11.4 million households watched the Oct. 3 Packers- Panthers matchup, a drop of 7.3 percent. In the same week last year, MNF ranked No. 8 among all prime-time programs. This year, MNF had fallen to No. 11.
Top 10 Network Sports Telecasts |
| Rank | net | program | date | rating | share | watching households (000s) |
| 1 | FOX | NFL: REGIONAL COVERAGE (LATE GAMES) | 10/9 | 10.8 | 21 | 11931 |
| 2 | ABC | NFL: MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL (GREEN BAY-CAR.) | 10/3 | 10.3 | 17 | 11399 |
| 3 | FOX | NFL: POSTGAME | 10/9 | 9.3 | 16 | 10244 |
| 4 | CBS | NFL: REGIONAL COVERAGE (EARLY GAMES) | 10/9 | 8.3 | 19 | 9141 |
| 5 | FOX | MLB: DIV. SERIES (L.A. ANGELS-YANKEES) | 10/9 | 8.1 | 13 | 8911 |
| 6 | ABC | NFL: MONDAY NIGHT PREGAME | 10/3 | 7.9 | 12 | 8750 |
| 7 | FOX | NFL: POSTGAME (THE OT) | 10/9 | 7.1 | 12 | 7808 |
| 8 | FOX | NFL: REGIONAL COVERAGE (EARLY GAMES) | 10/9 | 6.8 | 15 | 7473 |
| 9 | FOX | MLB: DIV. SERIES (ANGELS-YANKEES) | 10/4 | 6.0 | 10 | 6654 |
| 10 | ABC | NFL: MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL POSTGAME | 10/3 | 5.6 | 14 | 6202 |
ESPN SEES BEST WEEK EVER: Ten of cable’s 14 most-watched shows were on ESPN, for an average of 4.58 million viewers per show, a network record. A total of 4.44 million households watched the Ohio State-Penn State game on ESPN, making it the net’s second-most-viewed, regular-season college football game ever.
Top 10 Cable Sports Telecasts |
| | | | | rating | watching |
| Rank | net | program | date | national | cov. area | share | households (000s) |
| 1 | ESPN | NFL: SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL (CINN.-JACK.) | 10/9 | 5.5 | 6.7 | 10 | 6024 |
| 2 | ESPN | MLB: DIV. SERIES (ANGELS-YANKEES) | 10/7 | 4.9 | 6.0 | 10 | 5419 |
| 3 | ESPN | MLB: DIV. SERIES (RED SOX-WHITE SOX) | 10/5 | 4.4 | 5.4 | 9 | 4886 |
| 4 | ESPN | COLLEGE FOOTBALL (OHIO STATE-PENN STATE) | 10/8 | 4.0 | 4.9 | 9 | 4435 |
| 5 | ESPN | MLB: DIV. SERIES (YANKEES-ANGELS) | 10/5 | 3.8 | 4.7 | 9 | 4207 |
| 6 | ESPN | MLB: POSTGAME | 10/5 | 3.8 | 4.6 | 7 | 4138 |
| 7 | ESPN | NFL: PRIME TIME | 10/9 | 3.4 | 4.1 | 7 | 3731 |
| 8 | ESPN2 | MLB: DIV. SERIES (WHITE SOX-RED SOX) | 10/7 | 3.3 | 4.1 | 9 | 3633 |
| 9 | ESPN | MLB: DIV. SERIES (BRAVES-ASTROS) | 10/9 | 3.2 | 3.9 | 8 | 3529 |
| 10 | ESPN | SPORTSCENTER (EARLY) | 10/9 | 3.0 | 3.6 | 6 | 3266 |
Rating — Estimated percent of all TV households of persons tuned to a specifi c 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 specifi c program source.
Source: Nielsen Media Research
