2006-10-11 03:11:51 · 23 answers · asked by I am Sunshine 6 in Sports ➔ Football (American)
ABC and ESPN are owned by the same company. It used to be on ABC, but I think they figure that they can still get good ratings on a Monday night with regular shows. And ESPN can now get a lot of ratings for the MNF show.
2006-10-11 05:16:18 · answer #1 · answered by Take it from Toby 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
There is a bidding process for all NFL games. Networks can bid for AFC, NFC, Sunday night, and Monday night games. None of the "major" networks had enough interest in showing Monday Night Football to outbid ESPN. The NFL wasn't concerned about it being on a "cable" network because the majority of households have cable or satellite and by arrangement the games are shown on "free" TV in a team's local area when it plays on Monday.
2006-10-11 11:24:38 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
This is why:
The End of the ABC Era-
On April 18, 2005, the NFL announced that Monday Night Football would be televised on ESPN in 2006, ending a 36-year run on ABC. ABC and ESPN are both owned by the Walt Disney Company.
Despite high ratings, ABC lost millions of dollars on televising the games during the late 1990s and 2000s. That, and the rise of ABC's ratings on Sunday night, and their wish of protecting their Desperate Housewives franchise (which they knew would be costly), resulted in the April 18, 2005 decision that ABC and the NFL had decided to end their 36-year partnership, with Monday Night Football being aired on ESPN starting with the 2006 season, a move some Disney shareholders have criticized.
2006-10-11 10:19:28 · answer #3 · answered by Joe Somebody 6 · 1⤊ 2⤋
It was ratings vs cost. Many prime time pro sports are multi billion dollar contracts. They cost so much because there is a feeling that they will deliver high ratings. If they don't deliver high ratings to cover the cost (advertisers pay per person and type of person watching) they might get dropped. That's what happened with MNF.
2006-10-11 12:02:57 · answer #4 · answered by gregory_dittman 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
technically-it still is, as ABC's parent company Disney owns ESPN as well. It's all about money. You have to have extended cable or a dish to pick up ESPN. Disney is lining it's pockets at the expense of the average fan. If you did research, you would probably find the ratings for it are comparable to when it was on ABC.
2006-10-11 12:02:12 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
NBC (I think) moved it to "Sunday Night Football" because of the ratings. Sunday night gets a much bigger audience than Monday night because everyone is back to work, especially East coast and even people in the Central time zone.
2006-10-11 10:28:37 · answer #6 · answered by Justin 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
ABC owns Espn. The NFL threw NBC a bone for the Sunday night gig.
The NFL makes out financially this way
2006-10-11 10:30:49 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
ESPN bought the rights to it for more money I guess. And in return I think they gave Sunday night football to NBC.
2006-10-11 10:19:10 · answer #8 · answered by Robert B 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Because Disney doesn't care about people without cable. They figure since the majority of people have cable and they pay so much for it they will put it on ESPN.
2006-10-11 10:24:44 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
i think that the cable companys pay them alot of money to put it on the cable channels that way ppl are buying cable just for football.
2006-10-11 11:52:08 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋