13 months ago, the NFL had its highest weekend rating ever. Yet now.....
According to Richard Deitsch with SI, prior to the MNF game that competed with the Presidential Debate, ratings were down 19%.
Last night’s Monday Night Football matchup between the Minnesota Vikings and New York Giants drew a 9.1 overnight rating, an 8% drop from last year’s comparable Week 4 game between the Detroit Lions and Seattle Seahawks.
While the number of streaming viewers has increased – last night’s game attracted 262,000 average minute viewers on digital platforms, a 23% increase from last year – total viewership is still trending downward.
NBC’s Sunday Night Football was down yet again in viewership, drawing in 16.68 million viewers and scoring a 6.19/19 rating in the advertiser friendly 18-49 demo. The numbers mark a season low for SNF and the show’s 11.0 overnight rating is the lowest total since 2007 (ouch). While the NFL still won the night in total viewers, those numbers mark a steep drop from last week’s 18.62 million/6.8 ratings and the week before’s 20.6 million/7.4 rating.
The NFL was done no favors by the matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers dominating the Kansas City Chiefs in a sleep-inducing 43-14 rout, but the league is accustomed to being quality proof. In years past, it wouldn’t matter if it was a blowout or a nail biter, SNF was TV’s king.
Cord cutters unite!
MOD EDIT - Closing thread, after a request to stay on-topic. Appreciate those who can.