ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” may have found a new halftime show.
The NFL coverage last night peaked in the 15 minutes before the “Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens” trailer debuted, according to very early Nielsen numbers.
From 9:45 p.m. ET to 10 o’clock, “Monday Night Football” (“MNF”) earned an 11.7 metered market rating. The highly anticipated film trailer premiered just after 10:05 on the east coast.
Last night, the Philadelphia Eagles defeated The New York Giants 27-7. The result leaves the two teams in a tie atop the soft NFC East, both with 3-3 records.
The game itself averaged a 9.6 overnight rating. In New York, it had a 9.4 rating on ESPN and a 4.6 on WPIX-CW, for a combined 14.0 rating in the market.
In Philadelphia, the game delivered a 16.5 rating on ESPN and a 15.8 on WPHL-IND, for a combined 32.3 rating in the market.
The top 10 outside metered markets were: West Palm Beach (14.1), New Orleans (13.9), Norfolk (13.7), San Diego (13.2), Raleigh-Durham (13.1), Las Vegas (12.8), Denver (12.7), Hartford and New Haven (12.4), Washington D.C. (11.4), and Charlotte (11.2).
The Giants-Eagles game also logged the third-largest audience ever for“Monday Night Football” on WatchESPN, attracting an additional 214,000 average minute impressions to the TV audience, up 89 percent compared to last year’s Week 6 “MNF” game.
It also had 670,000 unique viewers watching 43,594,000 live minutes — up 96 percent and 85 percent, respectively.
'Star Wars: Episode VII' Timeline - From Greenlight to J.J. Abrams' Cast Revealed
OCT. 30 2012: Disney buys Lucasfilm from George Lucas for $4.05 billion, and announces a new trilogy of "Star Wars" films. Fans rejoice, trim their neck beards.
NOV. 9, 2012: Oscar-winning "Little Miss Sunshine" screenwriter Michael Arndt is announced to write "Star Wars: Episode VII."
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JAN. 25, 2013: Disney announces J.J. Abrams will direct "Star Wars: Episode VII," despite his link to Paramount's "Star Trek" film series.
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JUL. 27, 2013: Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy announces to fans at Star Wars Celebration Europe that five-time Oscar-winning composer John Williams will return to score "Episode VII."
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AUG. 22, 2013: "Star Trek" cinematographer Dan Mindel reveals he has been hired to get behind the camera for "Episode VII," and will shoot on 35mm film.
OCT. 24, 2013: Lucasfilm announces that "Empire Strikes Back" screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan will co-write the screenplay for "Episode VII" with J.J. Abrams. The two set to work on a draft originally written by Arndt, who leaves the project.
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NOV. 14, 2013: Bad Robot confirms on Twitter what most fans pretty much already knew: R2-D2 will be back.
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DEC. 3, 2013: Lucasfilm launches the official "Star Wars" Instagram account with Darth Vader showing off a fresh selfie on a smart phone.
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JAN. 19, 2014: J.J. Abrams reveals at the Television Critics Association summer press tour that the script for "Episode VII" is complete.
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FEB. 26, 2014: TheWrap learns that "Girls" star Adam Driver is nearing a deal to play an undisclosed villain role in "Episode VII." Disney, Lucasfilm and Driver's reps would not confirm.
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NOV. 7 2013: Disney announces that "Star Wars: Episode VII" will be released on Dec. 18, 2015.
MAR. 18, 2014: Disney CEO Bob Iger announces that “Episode VII” starts shooting in May, and that it takes place 30 years after the events of “Return of the Jedi.”
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MAR. 18 2014: Iger also reveals that the film will be shot near London at Pinewood Studios, making "Episode VII" the fifth installment of the franchise to be shot in the United Kingdom.
MAR. 20, 2014: Disney and IMAX announce "Episode VII" will get a release on the biggest movie screen around (as if anybody thought otherwise).
APR. 22, 2014: While speaking at a Tribeca Film Festival panel, Disney Chairman Alan Horn teases that a major casting announcement is coming soon.
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APR. 29, 2014: Disney, Lucasfilm and director J.J. Abrams have unveiled the cast of “Star Wars: Episode VII." Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson and Max von Sydow join franchise veterans Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Peter Mayhew, Anthony Daniels, and Kenny Baker.
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With the cast of ”Episode VII“ finally unveiled, TheWrap looks back at major developments that slowly unfolded since Disney announced a new trilogy in 2012
OCT. 30 2012: Disney buys Lucasfilm from George Lucas for $4.05 billion, and announces a new trilogy of "Star Wars" films. Fans rejoice, trim their neck beards.