or


[09/10/24 - 03:28 PM]
ESPN's "Monday Night Football" Delivers 20.5 Million Viewers, Second Most-Watched Week 1 Game in ESPN Era
Accounting for all weeks, the Jets-49ers is the sixth-most-watched "Monday Night Football" game in the ESPN era, with four of the preceding five occurring during the 2023 season.
[via press release from ESPN]

ESPN's "Monday Night Football" Delivers 20.5 Million Viewers, Second Most-Watched Week 1 Game in ESPN Era

· Three Seasons of Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, along with Lisa Salters, Have Delivered Three Most-Watched Week 1 Games in ESPN's Monday Night Football History

· Monday Night Countdown Draws 1.3 Million Viewers

ESPN's Monday Night Football 2024 season opener averaged 20.5 million viewers (ESPN, ABC, ESPN2, ESPN+, ESPN Deportes, and NFL+) for the 49ers' convincing 32-19 win over the Jets (September 9, 8:15 p.m. ET). The audience is Monday Night Football's second-most-watched Week 1 matchup in ESPN's 19 seasons airing the legendary television franchise ((2006 - present, 34 games).

Joe Buck, Troy Aikman and Lisa Salters Call ESPN's Most-Watched Week 1 Monday Night Football Games

The three seasons of Monday Night Football with Joe Buck, Troy Aikman and Lisa Salters on the mic have scored as the three most-watched Week 1 games in the ESPN era. The trio was joined this season by Laura Rutledge on site in San Francisco.

ESPN's Most-Watched Week 1 MNF Games

Rank Season Matchup Viewership

1 2023 Buffalo Bills at New York Jets 22.7 million

2 2024 New York Jets at San Fransico 49ers 20.5 million

3 2022 Denver Broncos at Seattle Seahawks 19.8 million

Overall, there have been 34 Week 1 games on ESPN platforms due to doubleheaders in most seasons.

Monday Night Football Continues Momentum of Top Games

The strong start to the 2024 season campaign continues the momentum for Monday Night Football. Accounting for all weeks, the Jets-49ers is the sixth-most-watched Monday Night Football game in the ESPN era, with four of the preceding five occurring during the 2023 season.

Monday Night Countdown Draws 1.3 Million Viewers

Leading into the game, Monday Night Countdown (6-8 p.m.) averaged 1.3 million viewers, as Ryan Clark, Jason Kelce, and Marcus Spears joined Scott Van Pelt for the crew's first on-site show together. Adam Schefter also appeared on the programming from Levi's Stadium.

-30-





  [september 2024]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S


· MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL (ABC)




most recent ratings | view all posts
[06/03/26 - 07:00 AM]
Fans Power UFL on ESPN to Significant Viewership Growth Across 10-Week Regular Season
ABC alone accounted for eight of the top 10 most-watched games.
[06/03/26 - 06:00 AM]
TNT Sports Caps Its Most Watched NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs with Its Most Watched Conference Final Ever
The record-setting series helped propel TNT Sports' overall coverage of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs to an average of 1.4 million viewers across TNT, TBS, truTV and HBO Max, up 50% from 2025 through the Conference Final.
[06/02/26 - 04:06 PM]
NBC and Peacock Deliver Most-Watched Conference Finals Game Since 2016 with 15.9 Million Viewers for Spurs-Thunder Game 7 on Saturday Night
Across 28 playoff games, NBC Sports' presentation of the 2026 NBA Playoffs averaged 7.2 million viewers on NBC and Peacock, up 72% versus comparable coverage last season.

[06/02/26 - 02:36 PM]
ESPN's WCWS Viewership Success Continues
Texas Tech-UCLA averaged 2.0 million viewers, with a peak of 2.6 million.
[06/02/26 - 02:13 PM]
FOX IndyCar Continues Ratings Growth with Strong Detroit Performance
Through eight races, IndyCar on FOX is averaging 2,241,000 viewers, up +12% from 2025 (2,007,000).
[06/02/26 - 02:00 PM]
FOX MLB's "Baseball Night in America" Delivers Most-Watched Baseball Telecast of the Week
2,322,000 viewers tuned-in to FOX for a two-game slate highlighted by the Cubs' 6-1 victory over the Cardinals in most of the country.
[06/02/26 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of May 25 - "The Boroughs" Makes Itself at Home at No. 1 in This Week's Top 10
Plus: "Nemesis" stole away with the No. 2 spot on the list, commanding 5.9 million views.
[06/01/26 - 11:04 AM]
ESPN Scored Most-Watched NCAA Women's College World Series Opening Thursday on Record
Arkansas-Nebraska averaged 1.4 million viewers, with a peak of 1.6 million.
[06/01/26 - 08:27 AM]
ESPN Scores Most-Viewed Stanley Cup Playoffs Western Conference Final Since 2015, The Latest Viewership Successes Headed Into the Stanley Cup Final
Across four games on ESPN, the series averaged 2.2 million viewers and was up 44% vs. the Western Conference Final last year (Edmonton vs. Dallas) which went five games on ESPN.

[05/29/26 - 03:02 PM]
"20/20" Is Friday's No. 1 Newsmagazine, Leading "Dateline" in Total Viewers for the 5th Consecutive Broadcast Season
"20/20" improved on the previous season in Total Viewers (+5%/+170,000 - 3.672 million vs. 3.502 million).
[05/29/26 - 03:01 PM]
ABC News Is #1 in Total Viewers Sunday Morning and in Late-Night
"Nightline" posted double-digit gains week to week in Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49.
[05/28/26 - 03:23 PM]
2026 NBA Eastern Conference Finals Presented by Dunkin' Finishes Strong with Average Audience of 7.4 Million Viewers Across ESPN and ABC
Additionally, Game 4 on ESPN averaged 7.2 million viewers, marking the most-viewed Eastern Conference Finals Game 4 across any network since 2018.
[05/28/26 - 11:00 AM]
CBS Outpaces Competitors with Eight of the Top 25 Series Across All Streaming and Broadcast Originals in Nielsen's All-Series Ranker
CBS has the most top 25 series of any streaming or broadcast competitor and twice as many as its closest broadcast competitor, including six series with 10+ million viewers.
[05/28/26 - 10:31 AM]
FOX Delivers Most-Watched UFL Game Since League Started in 2024
1,593,000 viewers watched as Louisville defeated Dallas 37-23 on Sunday.
[05/28/26 - 10:26 AM]
FOX Scores with 110th Running of the Indianapolis 500
6,635,000 viewers watched Felix Rosenqvist edge David Malukas by 0.0233 seconds with a last-lap pass to win the Indy 500 Sunday on FOX.