Sunday Night Football may have returned down a shade with the start of the 2013 NFL season, but Monday Night Football was up. The ESPN franchise, which kicked off with a tight game between the Houston Texans and the San Diego Chargers, opened to its best-ever ratings for a season premiere.
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Overnight returns give the game a 11.6 rating based on Nielsen's metered markets. Not only is that a franchise best -- Monday Night Football moved over from ABC to its cable sister eight years ago -- it achieved that status by a rather wide margin. The previous high was set in 2010 with a 10.5 overnight rating. (Last year's opener only earned a 8.1.)
Simulcast on ABC affiliates in Indiana and Philadelphia, the game performed especially well in both of those markets -- raking in respective 35.1 and 38.8 overnight ratings.
Final ratings, including total viewers and performance among adults 18-49, will be available Tuesday afternoon.
