Perhaps Monday night is the real Football Night in America.
Last night’s season-opening doubleheader of ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” claimed the No. 1 and No. 2 spots across all of television, including cable and broadcast.
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At 7 p.m., the Detroit Lions’ 35-14 victory over the New York Giants averaged an 8.4 household rating and 13.7 million total viewers, according to Nielsen.
At 10:15 p.m., the Arizona Cardinals’ 18-17 comeback win over the San Diego Chargers earned a 7.1 rating and 11.5 million viewers.
For what it’s worth, the No. 3 program for the night was “Under the Dome” on CBS at 10 p.m., which delivered a 4.2 household rating and had 6.6 million viewers.
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In New York, the early game pulled a 16.6 rating across both ESPN and WABC-ABC. In Detroit, the second game earned a 30.6 across the combination of ESPN and WXYZ-ABC.
For the later contest, the close Cardinals win scored a 34.7 rating across the combined ESPN and KUSI-IND in San Diego. In Phoenix,
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