ManningCast hits season-high viewership

Omaha! The ManningCast drew a strong audience for its third telecast of the year on Monday.

Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli , as the ManningCast is formally called, pulled its largest audience of the season for the Kansas City Chiefs’ win over the New Orleans Saints in Week 5. The alternate telecast averaged 1.4 million viewers on ESPN2, up 6% versus last season’s comparable window.

As noted in ESPN’s press release, ManningCast has grown its audience each successive week the program has aired this season. Monday’s episode had the show’s largest audience in its last seven telecasts, dating back to the Philadelphia Eagles-Kansas City Chiefs game in Week 11 last year.

Monday’s episode didn’t lack star power. The Manning brothers brought on former New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick for his weekly appearance in the first quarter. Chiefs superfan and Hollywood actor Paul Rudd joined the show in the third quarter . Then, the patriarch of the Manning family, former Saints quarterback Archie Manning, joined his kids for the fourth quarter. No doubt, the stacked guest list helped draw a larger-than-normal audience.

ESPN has to be pleased with the success of the ManningCast part-way through its fourth season. The show is additive to the traditional Monday Night Football broadcast, helping the overall product reach a wider audience. But even more than the million-and-change viewers the show adds to the overall number each week, the ManningCast regularly produces viral moments like Rudd’s reaction to the Chiefs turning the ball over in the end zone.

The ManningCast is undoubtedly here to stay.

The only question is whether ESPN can convince Peyton and Eli to do more than ten episodes per season.

[ ESPN ]

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