‘Monday Night Football’ Ratings Up From Season Low & 2017; Eagles’ Playoff Hopes Rise

After beating the Washington Redskins 28-13 on , current Super Bowl champs the Philadelphia Eagles still have a chance to go for consecutive win in the big big game next February 3rd in Atlanta.

Up against the midseason finale of The Good Doctor on ABC, which saw pro-football preemptions in both the Philly and D.C. markets, and The Voice on NBC, the ESPN broadcast put the once struggling Eagles within reach of the NFC East top spot. Last night’s MNF also gave the Disney-owned cabler and the NFL a chance to catch their ratings breath after last week’s harsh season low.

With the much-hyped dropping of the new Captain Marvel trailer in the halftime, the win by the City of Brotherly Love team over the nation’s capital boys earned 8.2 in metered market results, according to Nielsen.

That’s a double win for ESPN and the league, who have been loudly touting the small but significant 5% increase in viewership over last year while hit hard by declining ad rates.

Compared to the November 26 game between the Houston Texans and the Tennessee Titans, last night’s MNF is up 17% in the early metric. Year-to-year, the Eagles’ win last night, with that almost effortless interception by Nathan Gerry, was up 5% over the comparable and hardcore Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cincinnati Bengals game of December 4 2017 in metered market numbers.

.@NathanGerry take it away!#FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/G9edLCVmlw

— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) December 4, 2018

Last week’s MNF went on to come in with a 3.1 rating among adults 18-49 and an audience of 9.7 million. That Steelers v. Bengals game scored a 3.5 rating in the key demo and 10.8 million viewers.

Last night’s game peaked with a 9.3 MM rating in the 9:30 – 9:45 PM ET slot, before the latest look at the Brie Larson-led Marvel movie made its appearance. All added up, ESPN won the night overall on both cable and broadcast, where NBC was the top Big 4 net.

Which means, as the playoffs loom, that if these kind of ratings hold, the NFL will find itself offering higher rates to advertisers who want to get in the game next season.