Audience Analysis: ESPN Sees Lowest Cowboys "MNF" Game Yet

ESPN in Week 9 saw its lowest audience yet for a Cowboys game on its “MNF” package, dating back to when it acquired rights before the ’06 season. Titans-Cowboys, which was also the first game that “MNF” analyst Jason Witten called involving his former team, averaged 11.79 million viewers. While that delivered ESPN a primetime win for the ninth straight Monday and an increase over the Week 9 “MNF” matchup in ’17, it was well below the previous low for a Cowboys game on ESPN (Week 5 vs. the Bills in ’07, 13.03 million viewers). ESPN has had only one Cowboys game per season since taking over the package. Last year, the matchup against the Cardinals in Week 3 averaged 13.7 million viewers. The high mark for the Cowboys on ESPN was in ’14, with the Week 8 matchup against the Redskins drawing 18.81 million viewers.

VIEWERSHIP FOR COWBOYS GAMES ON ESPN's "MNF"
YEAR
WEEK
OPPONENT
VIEWERS (000)
'18
9
Titans
11,787
'17
3
Cardinals
13,698
'16
16
Lions
18,605
'15
4
Lions
14,403
'14
8
Redskins
18,809
'13
14
Bears
16,192
'12
4
Bears
16,616
'11
3
Redskins
17,104
'10
7
Giants
17,953
'09
3
Panthers
15,705
'08
2
Eagles
18,608
'07
5
Bills
13,028
'06
7
Giants
16,028

KEEP ON ROLLING : CBS on Saturday night drew its best audience for the annual Alabama-LSU game since ’13. The 11.54 million viewers for the game was the third-best figure since the game moved to primetime in ’11. Alabama-LSU also was up big from 6.73 million viewers last year, which was easily the matchup’s low point since moving to primetime.

ALABAMA-LSU REGULAR-SEASON CFB VIEWERSHIP ON CBS
YEAR
START (ET)
VIEWERS (000)
'18
8:00pm
11,543
'17
8:00pm
6,729
'16
8:00pm
10,385
'15
8:00pm
11,063
'14
8:00pm
9,109
'13
8:00pm
11,903
'12
8:00pm
11,349
'11
8:00pm
20,011
'10
3:30pm
7,208
'09
3:30pm
6,735

The chart below lists final audience figures from select recent sports telecasts.

TELECAST
DATE
NET
TIME (ET)
RAT.
VIEWERS
(000)
"SNF:" Packers-Patriots
11/4
NBC
8:24-11:25pm
13.7
23,677
NFL: Rams-Saints (96%)
11/4
Fox
4:25-7:47pm
13.0
22,119
NFL: (singleheader)
11/4
CBS
1:03-4:16pm
8.8
14,955
NFL: (regional)
11/4
Fox
1:03-4:25pm
7.8
12,955
College football: Alabama-LSU
11/3
CBS
8:00-11:29pm
6.6
11,543
"TNF": Raiders-49ers
11/1
Fox/
NFL Net
8:23-11:00pm
6.8
11,096
"MNF": Patriots-Bills
10/29
ESPN
8:13-11:33pm
6.6
11,077
"Football Night in America"
11/4
NBC
7:30-8:14pm
5.0
8,681
College football: Nebraska-Ohio State
11/3
Fox
12:00-3:45pm
3.1
5,006
"Fox NFL Sunday"
11/4
Fox
12:00-1:03pm
3.3
4,994
College football: West Virginia-Texas
11/3
Fox
3:48-7:30pm
2.7
4,431
College football: Georgia-Kentucky
11/3
CBS
3:30-7:00pm
2.6
4,392
College football: Penn State-Michigan
11/3
ESPN
3:45-7:06pm
2.5
4,252
"Thursday Night Football Pre-Game"
11/1
Fox/
NFL Net
7:30-8:07pm
2.3
3,561
College football: Notre Dame-Northwestern
11/3
ESPN
7:15-10:32pm
1.9
3,293
College football: Oklahoma-Texas Tech
11/3
ABC
8:06pm-12:16am
1.9
3,135
"The NFL Today"
11/4
CBS
12:00-1:00pm
2.0
3,096
College football: Texas A&M-Auburn
11/3
ESPN
12:00-3:32pm
1.6
2,622
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series:
AAA Texas 500
11/4
NBCSN
3:28-6:52pm
1.4
2,266
NBA: T'Wolves-Warriors
11/2
ESPN
10:39pm-12:54am
n/a
1,975
College football: UCLA-Oregon
11/3
Fox
7:41-11:15pm
1.2
1,947
"College GameDay"
11/3
ESPN
9:00am-12:00pm
n/a
1,923
Breeders' Cup Classic (race segment)
11/3
NBC
5:21-6:00pm
1.1
1,607
College football: Louisville-Clemson
11/3
ABC
12:00-3:30pm
1.1
1,550
College football: Cal-Washington State
11/3
ESPN
10:45pm-2:09am
0.9
1,495
"Sunday NFL Countdown"
11/4
ESPN
10:00am-1:00pm
n/a
1,466
"Fox NFL Kickoff"
11/4
Fox
11:00am-12:00pm
1.0
1,434
NBA: Pacers-Knicks
10/31
ESPN
8:12-10:38pm
n/a
1,368
College football: Florida State-N.C. State
11/3
ABC
3:31-7:15pm
0.9
1,347
"Courage in Sports"
11/4
CBS
5:00-6:00pm
0.9
1,338
Gymnastics: World Championships (taped)
11/4
NBC
3:00-6:00pm
0.8
1,097
Liga MX: Toluca-Club America
11/3
Univision
8:55-10:59pm
0.5
968
Breeders' Cup Classic (pre-race)
11/3
NBC
3:30-5:21pm
0.6
966
EPL: Liverpool-Arsenal
11/3
NBC
1:30-3:30pm
0.6
874
Figure Skating: ISU Grand Prix (taped)
11/4
NBC
1:00-3:00pm
0.5
621
"World of X Games"
11/4
ABC
2:00-3:00pm
0.2
305


Sponsored content