If not for this past Monday night's highly watched NFL game, The Walt Disney Co's ESPN network would have had its smallest audience for "Monday Night Football" in 2016 since the 2006 season. [Snip] This year marks the third consecutive year that ESPN's "Monday Night Football" audience has declined, and the fifth decline in the past six years. The NFL ratings downturn was most notable in primetime. ESPN was among the hardest hit, with viewership falling nearly 12 percent from last season, according to the Nielsen data.
