National Football League

ESPN sees 'MNF' ratings dip

Published Dec. 19, 2011 12:00 a.m. ET

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Cable channel ESPN, a unit of Walt Disney, has seen the average audience for its "Monday Night Football" broadcasts drop about 10 percent this year, according to figures cited Monday.

After several years of soaring viewership, the television juggernaut that is the NFL is suffering a dip this year, at least on Mondays, as a number of unappealing games have tested fans' appetite for the sport.

Evidence of a drop in ratings comes as CBS, NBC and News Corp.'s FOX signed unprecedented nine-year extensions with the NFL on Wednesday, with each network to pay roughly $1 billion a year for the rights.

News Corp. also owns FOXSports.com, MarketWatch and NewsCore.

ESPN signed its own eight-year extension with the league, for a package that includes "Monday Night Football," in September.

"When you're spreading professional football games across four different partners, there's a limit to how well you can satisfy all four," Michael Cramer, director of the sports and media program at the University of Texas said.

ESPN is also challenged by NFL Network, which broadcasts eight regular season games on either Thursdays or Saturdays, noted Cramer.

" 'Monday Night Football' comes at the end of the football week, and it can be hard to get through (poor quality games) when you're footballed out," he added.

"Monday Night Football" is averaging roughly 12.8 million viewers this year, down from more than 14 million in the previous two seasons. The decline is likely down to the slate of games, both in terms of teams and results.

Marquee franchises have been scarce on ESPN this year. Undefeated champs Green Bay Packers have appeared just once, and last year's Super Bowl runner-up Pittsburgh Steelers are yet to feature.

NBC's "Sunday Night Football" has shown the Packers twice — and will again on Christmas Day, against the Chicago Bears — and the Steelers three times.

ESPN has also suffered from blowouts, especially in the past five weeks. Since the Bears beat the Philadelphia Eagles by six points Nov. 7, the margin of victory in Monday night games has been 38 points, 31 points, 25 points, 24 points and 17 points. The scoreboard is considered a big factor in determining audience size.

"We've had some challenging games in recent weeks, but we feel we have two potential blockbusters to end the season," ESPN spokesman Bill Hofheimer said.

Monday's game will see the Steelers travel to the division-leading San Francisco 49ers, and the final game is a divisional matchup between the New Orleans Saints and the Atlanta Falcons.

That contest was also the last game of 2010's Monday night schedule and averaged more than 19 million viewers.

Despite this year's slide, "Monday Night Football" is still a dominant force. Six of this season's games are in the top 10 cable broadcasts of the past year, while "Monday Night Football" is the 11th most-watched primetime series on television this season.