ESPN's 'Monday Night Football' broadcasts post higher ratings in 2018

The eyes have it: ESPN's "Monday Night Football" broadcasts posted higher ratings this season than in either of the previous two years, the network announced Wednesday. The prime-time games averaged nearly 11.65 million viewers per week over the course of 17 games in 16 weeks, ESPN said. That marked an 8 percent increase from the 2017 average of about 10.79 million viewers and a 2 percent increase from the 2016 average of about 11.39 million viewers. The broadcasts' top-rated game of the season came Nov. 19, when the Los Angeles Rams outlasted the Kansas City Chiefs for a wild 54-51 victory.

About 16.7 million viewers tuned in to watch the shootout unfold. However, the season ended on a sour note for the network. This week's Christmas Eve game between the Denver Broncos and Oakland Raiders posted only a 5.4 overnight rating, according to SporstBusiness Daily, which marked the worst-rated "Monday Night Football" game on record. The previous low happened in Week 3 of the 2016 season, which went head to head against the first presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. This marked the first season for the new broadcast team of play-by-play voice Joe Tessitore, booth analyst Jason Witten, field analyst Booger McFarland and reporter Lisa Salters. The crew is set to call one playoff game during the NFL's wild-card round in addition to calling the Pro Bowl in Orlando on Jan. 27.