ESPN Takes October Ratings Crown

ESPN continued its fall ratings roll, finishing as the most-watched cable network in primetime during the month of October and matching its September win, according to Nielsen.

The sports network rode NFL Monday Night Football and its college football coverage to tally an average of 3.3 million viewers between Sept. 28 and Oct. 25, according to Nielsen. TBS, whose coverage of the Major League Baseball postseason had a strong performance, finished in second place at 3 million.

AMC devoured third place on the strength the season-six premiere of The Walking Dead, averaging 1.7 million viewers, according to Nielsen.

On the series front, The Walking Dead and its offshoots, Fear the Walking Dead and Talking Dead, had the largest average audiences for their premiere episodes. FX’s horror-themed series American Horror Story: Hotel scared up the fourth-largest audience. Discovery’s Gold Rush was the only reality series to finish in the top five for the month.