ESPN Takes Night with MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL

Last night's Monday Night Football telecast - a New Orleans Saints' 38-17 victory over the Miami Dolphins - helped ESPN win the night among all networks - broadcast or cable - in households and all key male and adult demos. The MNF game ranked as the top telecast of the night across cable and broadcast in those same categories. ESPN and MNF ranked second for the night, among all networks and programs, respectively, in total viewers.

The Dolphins-Saints telecast earned an 8.6 US rating, representing an average of 9,945,000 households and 13,717,000 viewers (P2+), according to Nielsen. Coverage peaked from 9:30 -9:45 p.m. ET with a 10.4 US rating.

In Miami, the game delivered a 13.1 rating on ESPN and a 4.0 on WSFL-CW, for a combined 17.1 rating in the market. In New Orleans, the game delivered a 21.7 rating on ESPN and a 39.3 on WDSU-NBC, for a combined 61.0 rating in the market

The top 10 metered markets (in addition to the markets of the competing teams) were West Palm Beach (15.4), Sacramento (14.5), San Diego (14.0), Las Vegas (13.6), Norfolk (12.2), Richmond-Petersburg, Va. (12.2), Charlotte (12.1), Memphis (11.7), Nashville (11.6) and Seattle-Tacoma (11.5).

Through four weeks (five games), ESPN's MNF is averaging an 8.8 US rating, 10,201,000 households and 13,985,000 viewers in 2013, virtually even with the same period in 2012.