ESPN Wears Primetime Crown
Cable Record ‘MNF’ Telecast Elevates Sports Network
By Mike Reynolds -- Multichannel News, 12/11/2007 9:41:00 AM
ESPN, led by its record-setting Monday Night Football coverage on Dec. 3, tackled the top spot in cable’s primetime ratings last week.
The total sports network averaged a 2.5 household rating from Dec. 3 through Dec. 10, according to a Disney ABC Cable Networks analysis of Nielsen Media Research data.
ESPN was bolstered by the aforementioned MNF contest in which the New England Patriots kept their perfect record intact by nipping the Baltimore Ravens, 27-24, in the final minute. The game drew a 13.0 rating and a record live cable audience of 17.5 million viewers, topping the 17.2 million attracted by Disney Channel with its Aug. 17 premiere of telefilm High School Musical 2.
USA Network was second for the week with a 2.3 average, ahead of Disney’s 2.0 mark.
ABC Family, benefiting from its annual “25 Days of Christmas” programming stunt, was 0.1 point behind in fourth place, averaging a 1.9 rating and 2.8 million viewers -- the latter equaling the service’s best weekly primetime performance in its history, according to network officials. ABC Family’s big week was powered by Holiday in Handcuffs on Dec. 9. The original telefilm ranked fourth for the week with a 4.5 rating and 6.7 million viewers, making it the network’s most-watched telecast ever.
TNT was fifth with a 1.8, while Lifetime claimed the sixth spot with a 1.6 household average.
TBS and Hallmark Channel, which scored with a 3.4 rating and 3.89 million viewers on average with original telefilm, The Note, on Dec. 8, tied for seventh, each with a 1.6 mark.
Sci Fi Channel, lifted by the three-installment Tin Man, the most-watched miniseries in its history, was ninth with a 1.5 average. Fox News Channel rounded out the top 10 with a 1.3 mark.
NFL Network presented the week’s second highest-rated show: its Thursday Night Football game between the Chicago Bears and Washington Redskins notched a 6.8 coverage mark, translating into 3.94 million viewers.
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