ESPN Monday Night Football presented a doubleheader of Week 15 games with start times separated by a half-hour that obtained an overlapping audience averaging 17.8 million viewers from 8:30 to 11:15 p.m. EST. The first matchup emanated from U.S. Bank Stadium with the Minnesota Vikings hosting the Chicago Bears at 8 p.m. EST on ABC and ESPN+. The Vikings recognized former wide receiver Randy Moss, who is recovering from surgery last week that removed a cancerous mass in the bile duct “between the pancreas and the liver.” Play-by-play announcer Joe Buck, analyst Troy Aikman and sideline reporter Lisa Salters were on the call for the game.
The second game of the doubleheader took place from Allegiant Stadium with the Atlanta Falcons visiting the Las Vegas Raiders airing on ESPN and ESPN Deportes. This matchup came down to the final possession, during which the Falcons were able to hold on for the 15-9 victory. The overlapping audience for both Monday Night Football games peaked at 19.4 million viewers during the first half of both games within the 9 to 9:15 p.m. EST quarter-hour. Chris Fowler, Louis Riddick, Dan Orlovsky and Laura Rutledge were on the broadcast for the interconference showdown. Individual viewership metrics for both games were not immediately available from Nielsen Media Research.
As outlined in its current media rights agreement with the NFL, The Walt Disney Company airs 23 football matchups during the season, including three weeks with doubleheaders. Throughout the remainder of the regular season, ESPN will be simulcasting Monday Night Football games on the ABC broadcast network, continuing a practice that it exercised last year amid the writers strike in Hollywood. Disney is in the midst of its second season within a 10-year media rights deal that includes broadcasts of the Super Bowl to conclude the 2026 and 2030 seasons.
Broadcasts of Monday Night Football averaged 14.4 million viewers per game through the first half of the season, with data from Nielsen Media Research spanning to Monday, Nov. 4. As of ratings for Week 14 contests, NFL games have accounted for 65 of the top 70 shows on television. ESPN and ABC will broadcast Monday Night Football in Week 16 when the New Orleans Saints visit Lambeau Field to face the Green Bay Packers. ESPN, ABC and ESPN+ will air a Monday night Super Wild Card matchup for the fourth consecutive season and a divisional round playoff game for a second year to conclude the broadcast schedule.
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