QUARTERBACK Brett Favre’s return to Green Bay on “Monday Night Football” set a ratings record — the most-watched show in cable TV history.
The game between the Minnesota Vikings and the Green Bay Packers drew a staggering 21.8 million viewers, according to ESPN.
That shattered the old mark, also held by a “MNF” game, 18.6 million viewers for an Eagles-Cowboys game in September 2008.
Three of the top five shows in cable history are football games.
Because cable TV is only in about 60 percent of US TV homes, its ratings are rarely higher than traditional, over-the-air TV. But, in recent years, it is beginning to match regular TV in popularity.
In fact, the audience for Monday night’s game was bigger than any show on the broadcast networks, according to preliminary ratings.