BRISTOL, Conn.—NFL football continues to attract large audiences with ESPN reporting that viewing for the season to date through six weeks is up 6% (averaging more than 15 million viewers) and that the week 6 audience for the Dallas Cowboys at Los Angles Chargers on October 16 was the fifth most popular MNF game ever, garnered more than 19.7 million viewers (ESPN, ABC, ESPN2, ESPN Deportes and NFL+).
It was also easily the most-watched ESPN MNF Week 6 game, surpassing the Bears-Cardinals in 2006 (14.2 million viewers). The Cowboys-Chargers was up 63% from last year’s week 6 game (Broncos-Chargers).
ESPN reported that the audience peaked at 21.8 million in the fourth quarter (11 – 11:15 p.m.). Monday Night Football was also the most-watched telecast of the night overall and across all key demos.
Audience levels for the five previous weeks were:
- Week 1: 22.6 million viewers, ESPN’s most-watched Monday Night Football game
- Week 2 and 3: More than 21.7 million viewers during each of the two hours of overlapping action of two games (8:15 – 10:15 p.m. ET)
- Week 4: 16.6 million viewers, the most-watched Week 4 MNF game in 14 seasons
- Week 5: 17.4 million viewers, the most-watched Week 5 MNF game in the ESPN era
