Monday Night Football Dominates Again: Saints-Seahawks on ESPN

"MNF's" Saints-Seahawks on ESPN: Most-Watched Show on Monday Night

Second-Most Watched MNF Game Ever on WatchESPN with 16.5 Million Live Minutes

This week's Monday Night Football telecast - a Seattle Seahawks' 34-7 victory over the New Orleans Saints - ranked as the No. 1 show on Monday night across cable and broadcast in households, viewers and all key male and adult demos. The telecast also helped ESPN win the night on Monday among all networks (broadcast or cable) in those same categories.

The Saints-Seahawks telecast earned a 9.7 US rating, representing an average of 11,289,000 households and 15,500,000 viewers (P2+), according to Nielsen. Coverage peaked from 9:45-10 p.m. ET with an 11.9 US rating.

In New Orleans, the game delivered an 18.0 rating on ESPN and a 37.2 on WDSU-NBC, for a combined 55.2 rating in the market. In Seattle, the game delivered a 21.3 rating on ESPN and a 25.9 on KONG-IND, for a combined 47.2 rating in the market.

The top 10 metered markets (in addition to the markets of the competing teams) were Sacramento (16.0), Charlotte (15.4), Las Vegas (15.2), Portland, OR (14.9), San Diego (14.7), Norfolk (13.5), San Francisco (13.5), Richmond-Petersburg (13.3), Phoenix (13.1) and Greensboro (13.1).

Through 13 weeks (14 games), ESPN's MNF is averaging an 8.5 US rating, 9,888,000 households and 13,504,000 viewers in 2013, increases of one, three and three percent, respectively, versus the same period in 2012.

NFL on ESPN Digital Platforms

ESPN Digital Media's NFL content across all platforms - ESPN.com, mobile Web, apps and WatchESPN - through 14 Monday Night Football games over 13 days so far this season continues to log significant growth, generating an average minute audience of 626,000 during telecasts, an increase of 27 percent compared to the same time period last season. Specifically, Monday's Saints vs. Seahawks game on WatchESPN logged 16.5 million live minutes - second most ever for a MNF game (behind Eagles-Redskins, Sept. 9), 225,000 unique viewers, and an average minute audience of 81,000, up 145 percent, 115 percent and 134 percent, respectively, compared to a year ago. Season to date, MNF on WatchESPN is averaging 185,000 unique viewers (up 110 percent), 12.9 million live minutes (up 146 percent) and an average minute audience of 65,000 (up 144 percent) per game.

Additionally, season to date on Sundays, ESPN Digital Media's average minute audience across all platforms is 608,000, up 16 percent compared to the same time period the previous year. Other highlights:

· Mobile apps logged the largest growth on Sunday, with the SportsCenter app generating an average minute audience of 136,000 (up 55 percent) and 7.5 million unique visitors (up eight percent)

· ESPN Fantasy Football app logged an average minute audience of 148,000 (up 88 percent) and 3.9 million unique visitors (up 51 percent)

Tony Romo and Dallas Cowboys vs. Chicago Bears on MNF This Week:

ESPN's Monday Night Football returns this week on December 9 at 8:25 p.m. when Tony Romo and the Dallas Cowboys - tied for first-place in the NFC East - travel to the Windy City to play the Chicago Bears. In addition, ESPN NFL analyst Mike Ditka, the former Bears head coach and player (who also played and was an assistant coach for the Cowboys), will have his No. 89 retired by the Bears at halftime of the MNF game.

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