Weekly ESPN/ABC simulcasts of Monday Night Football will end in 2024

This year, that wo n’t be happening.

Via LarryBrownsSports . com, John Ourand of Puck recently reported that MNF will return to its pre- labour unrest routine, with only five or six games simulcast on ABC and three special ABC game. ( Some people love simultaneous doubleheaders, but others, including myself, do not. ) ( The exclusive games presumably will be a part of this. )

The end result may be fewer viewers for Monday Night Football.

How it’s presented will be a different topic. The P. R. benefits at Disney does try to compare the apples of ESPN for the non-simulcast weeks whose main responsibilities are to put out fires and flip ratings. But, those figures will typically be higher because ESPN does have to be used in 2024 for those who would have watched on ABC in 2023. Another technique would be to assess 2024 to 2022, treating 2023 like the outlier it was. ( Of course, it was n’t an aberration last year, when Disney was touting the year- over- year gains without evidently pointing out oh- by- the- way- final- year- the- similar- game- was n’t- on- a- three- letter- broadcast- network- too. )

The ManningCast, a media darling who is n’t a needle-mover, might be the subject of the biggest question. The ManningCast is the greatest TV technology since the remote control, according to international law that is required of everyone in the industry. That perspective is not supported by the statistics.

And the figures have been slipping.

The other knock this year may come from Bill Belichick’s recurring images. People who do n’t watch the ManningCast because they prefer, you know, the actual game might be more inclined to get real-time insights from one of the greatest coaches who ever lived. It’s not easy to calculate how many times we’ll see a part-time contributor to a part-time show. What will be much better than hearing” catch the ball” hung small and overheard? a criticism from a famous person who supports either of the two groups.