10/11/24 12:48:00
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10/11 12:46 CDT ABC will air 6 additional 'Monday Night Football' games
starting this week with Bills-Jets
ABC will air 6 additional 'Monday Night Football' games starting this week with
Bills-Jets
By JOE REEDY
AP Sports Writer
ABC will simulcast six more ESPN "Monday Night Football" games, including
Monday's AFC East matchup between the Buffalo Bills and the New York Jets.
The addition of the six games means ABC will air 17 this season --- 14
simulcasts with ESPN (including two playoff games) and three games exclusively
on ABC.
The decision to simulcast more games was a joint decision between the NFL and
Walt Disney Company, which owns ABC and ESPN.
The other added games are Baltimore at Tampa Bay (Oct. 21), Tampa Bay at Kansas
City (Nov. 4), Houston at Dallas (Nov. 18), Baltimore at Los Angeles Chargers
(Nov. 25) and New Orleans at Green Bay (Dec. 23).
The only two Mondays the rest of the regular season where ABC will not have a
game are Nov. 11 and Dec. 2.
ABC had games all 18 weeks last season due to an agreement with the NFL since
there was no new original fall programming due to the Hollywood writers and
actors strikes. With more games on network television, "Monday Night Football"
averaged 17.36 million viewers across ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC, a 29% increase over
2022.
It was the best audience numbers for the league's seminal prime-time package
since 2000. The Super Bowl 57 rematch between Philadelphia and Kansas City
averaged 29.03 million.
Coming into the season, ABC had eight scheduled simulcasts, including two
Saturday Week 18 games and two playoff games, and three exclusive MNF games
when there were doubleheaders.
It also continues Disney's move toward putting more sports programming back on
ABC. Super Bowl 61 from Los Angeles in 2027 will be on the network and the
College Football Playoff championship game will also move to ABC the same year.
More games on ABC will also boost the ratings. Kansas City's 26-13 victory over
New Orleans on ESPN averaged 15.91 million, the fourth-most-watched Monday
night game not simulcast on ABC. However, the audience was down from the 17.38
million that viewed last season's Week 5 game between Green Bay and Las Vegas.
This week's game not only includes the quarterback matchup between the Jets'
Aaron Rodgers and Bills' Josh Allen, it is the first game for the Jets under
interim coach Jeff Ulbrich after Robert Saleh was fired following a 2-3 start
to the season.
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