ESPN and "Monday Night Football" Win the Night among All Key Male Demos

Lions-Bears Delivers 7.7 Rating and 10,664,000 Million Viewers

Last night's ESPN Monday Night Football game - a Chicago Bears 13-7 home win over their NFC North rivals Detroit Lions - won the night among all television programs on broadcast or cable in all key male demos (M18-34, M18-49 and M25-54).

The telecast delivered a 7.7 household coverage rating (6.6 US), representing an average of 7,584,000 households (10,664,000 million viewers - P2+), according to Nielsen. It peaked between 10:45 - 11 p.m. ET with a 9.1 household coverage rating.

In Chicago, the game delivered a 16.8 rating on ESPN and a 12.3 rating on WCIU-IND, for a combined 29.1 rating in the market. In Detroit, the game delivered a 7.3 rating on ESPN and a 15.1 rating on WXYZ-ABC, for a combined 22.4 rating in the market. The top-10 metered markets (not including primary home team markets): Las Vegas (13.9), New Orleans (13.0), Milwaukee (12.8), Indianapolis (10.6), Denver (10.0), Phoenix (9.9), Minneapolis-St. Paul (9.7), Nashville (9.5), Richmond (9.2) and Norfolk-Portsmouth-Newport News (8.8).

Through the first seven weeks of the NFL season (eight games), MNF is averaging a 10.0 household coverage rating (8.6 US), 9,793,000 households and 13,420,000 viewers, increases of five percent, four percent and four percent, respectively, from the same point last season.

ESPN Digital Platforms

ESPN also saw significant traffic across its digital platforms on Sunday and Monday:

· ESPN.com NFL section - An average minute audience of 30,000 was up +13 percent from last year, reaching 3.6 million unique visitors

· ESPN.com Fantasy Football section - An average minute audience of 62,000, a 37 percent increase, reaching 3.0 million unique visitors

· ESPN mobile Web NFL section - An average minute audience of 45,000, up 76 percent, reaching 3.3 million unique visitors.

NFC West Showdown on MNF Next Week

ESPN's MNF returns with an NFC West divisional matchup featuring quarterback Alex Smith and the first-place San Francisco 49ers at the Arizona Cardinals, led by wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, October 29 at 8:30 p.m.