MNF hits a new low...literally.

[LooGie]

From Fox Sports:

NEW YORK (AP) - The Carolina Panthers' 24-10 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was the least-watched Monday night NFL telecast, falling below last week's numbers - the previous low for "Monday Night Football."

 

The game was viewed in 7,315,000 households, ESPN said Tuesday. The previous low was 7,587,000 households for the Seattle Seahawks' 16-0 victory over the Oakland Raiders last week, according to Nielsen Media Research.

 

Before that, the lowest rating was for the St. Louis Rams' 28-21 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on ABC on Oct. 18, 2004.

 

ESPN spokesman Josh Krulewitz noted that the game had the 11th-biggest audience for a cable program this year. The other 10 are all Monday Night Football games.

 

"With a 37 percent increase over ESPN's coverage over last season," Krulewitz said, "'Monday Night Football' is exceeding our expectations. And we're looking forward to an exciting stretch run."

 

 

Carolina shouldn't take it personally, since its getting lower each week. Its obvious that people are just getting sick and tired of the complete mockery ESPN has made out of MNF, and just football in general. If it's not a match up of epic proportions people just can't bring themselves to watch it.

 

Did anyone else catch how they were comparing Gradkowski to Marino, and Montana, Unitas and Nameth... because he was from the same Athletic League? (WPIAL)? Are you kidding me? Or after Kornhole named off rookies that started and became great that very year (including Rothlisberger) he says "could gradkowski be the next one?"

um...he was 2-3 as a starter. Ben won 15 straight and made the playoffs and then won a superbowl the next year...Give me a break.

 

All night long it was Gradkowski this and Gradkowski that, and then when the tide started to turn, it was Peppers this and Peppers that. Those guys are such tools.

Then, to give a waffle iron to a gay Nascar driver on MNF is absolutely the cake taker in my opinion. I had to pause the Tivo and keep rewinding just make sure I wasn't having a seizure. They never even stopped talking about the god damned waffle iron to talk about the sack on Gradkowski to make it 4th down, and then the injury to Gamble that ensued. They just kept right on trucking about the waffle iron.

 

..................

 

even as I type this, I just can't believe that. It's so rediculous...it's laughable...hurt your face funny.

[TheGrunt]

From Fox Sports:

Carolina shouldn't take it personally, since its getting lower each week. Its obvious that people are just getting sick and tired of the complete mockery ESPN has made out of MNF, and just football in general. If it's not a match up of epic proportions people just can't bring themselves to watch it.

 

Did anyone else catch how they were comparing Gradkowski to Marino, and Montana, Unitas and Nameth... because he was from the same Athletic League? (WPIAL)? Are you kidding me? Or after Kornhole named off rookies that started and became great that very year (including Rothlisberger) he says "could gradkowski be the next one?"

um...he was 2-3 as a starter. Ben won 15 straight and made the playoffs and then won a superbowl the next year...Give me a break.

 

All night long it was Gradkowski this and Gradkowski that, and then when the tide started to turn, it was Peppers this and Peppers that. Those guys are such tools.

Then, to give a waffle iron to a gay Nascar driver on MNF is absolutely the cake taker in my opinion. I had to pause the Tivo and keep rewinding just make sure I wasn't having a seizure. They never even stopped talking about the god damned waffle iron to talk about the sack on Gradkowski to make it 4th down, and then the injury to Gamble that ensued. They just kept right on trucking about the waffle iron.

 

..................

 

even as I type this, I just can't believe that. It's so rediculous...it's laughable...hurt your face funny.

 

While I agree that watching Carolina vs. Tampa was not the most exciting game, and Seattle (without Hasselbeck and Shaun Alexander) vs. The dreadful Raiders had its downer moments, I still enjoyed watching both games.

 

In terms of fantasy football, both the Seattle game and the Carolina game involved not only players on my team, but for others in my league that made for some interesting fantasy matchups. I believe this will be one of the primary reasons the NFL will never pursue a law suite against business' hosting fantasy websites because the whole world of fantasy football has brought with it a new way to not only watch football, but enjoy and become excited to watch certain football games as well.

 

However, on another note, maybe the NFL should also try a new method (similar to that of Sunday Night Primetime football) and have a few guaranteed teams such as playoff teams and Superbowl teams play during Monday Night Football, but also adopt a policy where not only one of the more interesting games will be moved to Sunday Night, but also to Monday Night Football. It could possibly offer teams the incentive that if they play well during the year, they might get a chance at a Sunday Night game or a Monday Night game. Plus, it would also give the audience a higher chance of watching more interesting football than what we just watched.

[LooGie]

However, on another note, maybe the NFL should also try a new method (similar to that of Sunday Night Primetime football) and have a few guaranteed teams such as playoff teams and Superbowl teams play during Monday Night Football, but also adopt a policy where not only one of the more interesting games will be moved to Sunday Night, but also to Monday Night Football. It could possibly offer teams the incentive that if they play well during the year, they might get a chance at a Sunday Night game or a Monday Night game. Plus, it would also give the audience a higher chance of watching more interesting football than what we just watched.

 

I sort of agree a flex sched for MNF would be ok, but it's rather important to have teams prepared a month or so in advance for a MNF game. It's not the same as moving from a 1pm slot to a 5:30 slot. You're moving a whole day and a half later, and therefore shortening your week also.

Also, when the sched is made, OAK vs SEA probably looked like a great matchup. CAR vs TB looked like an epic battle of division rivals. TB won the division, and CAR made it to the NFC championship game last year, so I can understand.

Also, I dont have to always watch games of perfectly matched good teams. I like to watch SD blow out CLE or CHI shut out SF 100-0 purely for FF purposes. As long as I have a player here or there, I'm much happier having Al and John get the good games, and the idiots getting the crappy ones.

[SteelerMurf]

 

Did anyone else catch how they were comparing Gradkowski to Marino, and Montana, Unitas and Nameth... because he was from the same Athletic League? (WPIAL)? Are you kidding me? Or after Kornhole named off rookies that started and became great that very year (including Rothlisberger) he says "could gradkowski be the next one?"

 

 

 

I caught that (took special note cause I played in the WPIAL), but laughed that they insist on comparing every QB in the league to a hall of famer or future hall of famer. And to compare Gradkowski simply cause his high school was near these hall of famers is crazy.

 

I am the biggest die hard football fan there is and I just can't stomach Desperate Housewives guests, waffle irons...halloween races...it's a mockery of the sport. Hopefully the ratings tell them to get real.

[Front Row]

Then, to give a waffle iron to a gay Nascar driver on MNF is absolutely the cake taker in my opinion. rofl.gif I had to pause the Tivo and keep rewinding just make sure I wasn't having a seizure. They never even stopped talking about the god damned waffle iron to talk about the sack on Gradkowski to make it 4th down, and then the injury to Gamble that ensued. They just kept right on trucking about the waffle iron. rofl.gif

You didn't appreciate Jeff Gordon talking about "They don't serve waffles for breakfast in Belgium, they serve them for desert, I've been to Belgium I know" ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?? How about the game jerkoffs!!!

Between Cornholio and Theisman this could be the worst MNF crew yet; even worse than Dennis Miller's musings were.

Did you ever think you would miss Howard Cosell?

Edited November 15, 2006 by Front Row

[TimC]

There was a High Stakes Poker marathon on and I didn't have anyone playing in the game. Monday night was fantastic without dealing with these bozos.

 

I did flip over during commercials and saw the Jeff Gordon fiasco. What a mockery ESPN has made of MNF.

 

If only LT had broken Joe's mouth in two instead of his leg back in the day...

[Ursa Majoris]

Dealing with MNF:

 

Pause before game

Sit down about 10 minutes into 1st quarter

FF to kickoff, watch kickoff

Use three >>> to FF through commercials

Watch 1st down

Use > to FF between downs (unless there's an interesting one, in which case continue watching between downs)

Use >>> to FF through next commercials

Repeat as required

When caught up to live action, pause TV, go upstairs, talk to wife, get beer, scratch rearend, whatever.

Repeat process until caught up again, then repeat whole process throughout game as necessary.

 

Note: When actually watching, make liberal use of mute button.

[chiefjay]

This is Cable -v- Network TV. We knew the ratings would be lower this year then last or any previous year. Tony K. (on MNF) and Theesman are still aszhats though.

 

Big fan of Tirico.

Edited November 15, 2006 by chiefjay

[Savage Beatings]

Then, to give a waffle iron to a gay Nascar driver on MNF is absolutely the cake taker in my opinion. I had to pause the Tivo and keep rewinding just make sure I wasn't having a seizure. They never even stopped talking about the god damned waffle iron to talk about the sack on Gradkowski to make it 4th down, and then the injury to Gamble that ensued. They just kept right on trucking about the waffle iron.

 

 

This is exactly what is killing MNF right now. Even when I've hated the likes of Theismann each week, I've watched the games because for the most part I can tune him out and just enjoy what's happening on the field. But this season, its lilke having to watch 50 seconds worth of excrement to 10 seconds worth of football each minute that ESPN is on.

 

I'll catch a glimpse of something happening on the field, and I'll be wondering about the details, but no... there will be no details forthcoming. There will be exciting interviews with other b-list celebrities from ABC or ESPN though. There will be waffle irons given to NASCAR drivers with Belgian wives, but there will be no explanation as to what just occurred on the field. There will be giant-headed half-time races that nobody in the known universe would ever want to see, but there will be no in-depth insightful football analysis.

 

Watching MNF has never actually made me angry until this idiotic season.

[cliaz]

I personally think they should have never screwed with the MFN. I also think the whole flex with the sunday night game a bit over the top.

 

NFL is starting to d1ck around with crap to raise it's rating/money in put which is fine because after all it's a corp. but I have been seriously let downt his year.

 

 

NFL direct ticket is way too $$$ now

Monday game just isn't the same.

 

 

I just think the NFL has become too commerical (Like fantasy football now.) and it's ruining it for me.

 

I think that FFootball has completely ruined the sport of football for me as well.

 

This of course could all be because for the 4th year in a row my team has been torn apart by injuries and once again the two teams leading that league have LT and LJ and everyone else who doesn't have those two big backs is trailing by 2 games.

 

Cynical all the way baby!!!!!!!!

 

 

but serioulsy, they need to put MFN back to the way it was.

[rajncajn]

This is exactly what is killing MNF right now. Even when I've hated the likes of Theismann each week, I've watched the games because for the most part I can tune him out and just enjoy what's happening on the field. But this season, its lilke having to watch 50 seconds worth of excrement to 10 seconds worth of football each minute that ESPN is on.

 

I'll catch a glimpse of something happening on the field, and I'll be wondering about the details, but no... there will be no details forthcoming. There will be exciting interviews with other b-list celebrities from ABC or ESPN though. There will be waffle irons given to NASCAR drivers with Belgian wives, but there will be no explanation as to what just occurred on the field. There will be giant-headed half-time races that nobody in the known universe would ever want to see, but there will be no in-depth insightful football analysis.

 

Watching MNF has never actually made me angry until this idiotic season.

 

+ a billion

 

I've gotten to where I just watch MNF in passing & mostly with the sound turned down. It's getting to where MNF is less about the game and more about so-called "entertaiment".

[Rockerbraves]

MNF was only a success because it was one of only a handful of games you could watch on TV. Now you get college football almost every night of the week, minimum 12 college games on Saturday, 4 games on Sunday, Sunday Night Football & then here comes MNF. Not saying it's too much football for the real diehard football fan, however for the majority of football fans it's over satuation.

 

Face the facts and live with it, MNF will never and I repeat never be as popular as it once was. ABC realized this so that's why they moved it to cable where the diehards can still watch the game.

[rajncajn]

MNF was only a success because it was one of only a handful of games you could watch on TV. Now you get college football almost every night of the week, minimum 12 college games on Saturday, 4 games on Sunday, Sunday Night Football & then here comes MNF. Not saying it's too much football for the real diehard football fan, however for the majority of football fans it's over satuation.

 

Face the facts and live with it, MNF will never and I repeat never be as popular as it once was. ABC realized this so that's why they moved it to cable where the diehards can still watch the game.

 

I disagree, I don't think the problem is over saturation, I think it's BS programming & crappy "commentators". Now even the diehards are losing interest because of it.

[Rockerbraves]

I disagree, I don't think the problem is over saturation, I think it's BS programming & crappy "commentators". Now even the diehards are losing interest because of it.

 

 

Consider myself one of the most diehard football fans and I quit watching MNF religiously years ago. Don't get me wrong I do tune into the game on Monday, but rarely does the remote control leave my hands. Flip the channel occassionally and forget to switch back because I see there's a "Family Guy" or a "King of Queen" rerun on one of the other channels.

 

Back in the days when MNF was a huge success you only had about 3 programming choices. Heck even if you walk into a sports bar on Monday night these days all the TV's arn't tuned to the game. Don't think that's because of the commentary since you really can't hear them anyway. As far as picking the game there is rarely a NFL matchup that captures the nation's interest with possibly the exception of the Falcons vs. Saints game that I'm guessing drew some non diehard football fans like the old days when MNF was more of an event than an NFL game.

[rajncajn]

Consider myself one of the most diehard football fans and I quit watching MNF religiously years ago. Don't get me wrong I do tune into the game on Monday, but rarely does the remote control leave my hands. Flip the channel occassionally and forget to switch back because I see there's a "Family Guy" or a "King of Queen" rerun on one of the other channels.

 

Back in the days when MNF was a huge success you only had about 3 programming choices. Heck even if you walk into a sports bar on Monday night these days all the TV's arn't tuned to the game. Don't think that's because of the commentary since you really can't hear them anyway. As far as picking the game there is rarely a NFL matchup that captures the nation's interest with possibly the exception of the Falcons vs. Saints game that I'm guessing drew some non diehard football fans like the old days when MNF was more of an event than an NFL game.

 

I still disagree, back when it was good the commentators MADE the game interesting even if it was a bad game. They didn't come up with bs topics & joke about non-football crap all night long. They were up-front & honest about how the teams were playing & discussed and analyzed what those teams needed to do & why they were bad. THAT'S what we football fans want to see and hear. If it went back to that I think they would get more of the real football fans back. It will likely never be the way it was before, but at least it would bring the actual football fans back. As far as the sports bar argument goes, when MNF was in it's heyday there was no such thing as a "sportsbar". Sportsbars nowdays have to cater to all sports fans, so it would be bad business for them to tune every TV in to MNF. Back in the day, football was(still is) the most popular sport, so the one or two TVs in the local pubs were always tuned to it.

[alexgaddis]

Dealing with MNF:

 

Pause before game

Sit down about 10 minutes into 1st quarter

FF to kickoff, watch kickoff

Use three >>> to FF through commercials

Watch 1st down

Use > to FF between downs (unless there's an interesting one, in which case continue watching between downs)

Use >>> to FF through next commercials

Repeat as required

When caught up to live action, pause TV, go upstairs, talk to wife, get beer, scratch rearend, whatever.

Repeat process until caught up again, then repeat whole process throughout game as necessary.

 

Note: When actually watching, make liberal use of mute button.

 

Thats's me every Monday to a tee!

 

Add it give daughter a bath around halftime before she goes to bed...

 

I usually miss most of there yammering and the garbage and just watch the plays...

[billay]

My problem is that it's so much less about football now and ESPN is trying to make it an event in and of itself. They dedicate their entire day of programming to it leading up to kickoff. I have a real problem with media outlets trying to create a "culture" and right now ESPN is leading the way in that regard.

[Rockerbraves]

I still disagree, back when it was good the commentators MADE the game interesting even if it was a bad game. They didn't come up with bs topics & joke about non-football crap all night long. They were up-front & honest about how the teams were playing & discussed and analyzed what those teams needed to do & why they were bad.

 

 

Which announcers did you think were great or made the game more interesting?

Edited November 15, 2006 by Rockerbraves

[Big John]

Face the facts and live with it, MNF will never and I repeat never be as popular as it once was. ABC realized this so that's why they moved it to cable where the diehards can still watch the game.

 

If thay meant it for diehards, why do they put in all the superflourous stuff that takes away from the game?

[rai]

I think this MNF crew is the worst, I actually liked Miller. I still like Madden a lot, MNF is worst for having the worst crew in TV, they should have the best. Teriko is OK (actually good) but the other 2 clowns are horrible.

 

Say What Willis? with these celebs? Arnold, Barkley, Gordon, Jamie Fox can't remember them all, but they distract a lot from the game.

 

We watch the games for the game not the celebs of Kornhisers inane rambling or Theisman (gag).

 

The match-ups aren't the best. Who thinks Oak or Arazona or TB are any good? They should have more Chi, Phila, Dal, NYG, Indy, NE, Den, SD, etc..

 

I know there will be a few surprizes, but does anyone think Arazona is going to be good after sucking forever? Or Oakland?

 

I was watching the game intently mostly b/c SS, I needed 110 yards and he made me sweat it out to the final few minutes.

Edited November 15, 2006 by rai

[rajncajn]

Which announcers did you think were great or made the game more interesting?

 

Since I've been watching...Cosell, Gifford, Meredith & Michaels. Hell, Dierdork wasn't even that bad.

[Savage Beatings]

Oh and what the F was that Tony Kornheiser award that he gave away with some lame medal that has his face on it? Are you kidding me?!?!?

[LooGie]

You didn't appreciate Jeff Gordon talking about "They don't serve waffles for breakfast in Belgium, they serve them for desert, I've been to Belgium I know" ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?? How about the game jerkoffs!!!

Between Cornholio and Theisman this could be the worst MNF crew yet; even worse than Dennis Miller's musings were.

Did you ever think you would miss Howard Cosell?

 

See? Even as i read it, I just can't believe it. It's just....unbelievable. A sack, an injury, and they dont EVEN BLINK.

[Rockerbraves]

If thay meant it for diehards, why do they put in all the superflourous stuff that takes away from the game?

 

Maybe they figure the diehards are going to watch regardless and the ABC executives say why not get in another promo. MNF is new to ESPN so I'm hoping if the ratings continue to fall ESPN will eventually quit trying to reinvent themselves and go back to catering to the sports crazy audience that made them a success in the first place. Got to think there are turf battles going on these days between the ABC and ESPN programming executives.

[H8tank]

Theisman just made me mad last year on SNF, but Kornholer has completely ruined it for me, that and the fact they are skipping plays to talk to some dork I could give a fok about.

 

I watch most of the MNF game on fast forward now, it is soley due to the commentators.

 

One thing I will give them though, that intro, where the city streets become a Football game... now that is foking awesome.