FOOTBALL A BIG WINNER ON CABLE, TOO

ESPN’s Monday Night Football got off to a great if not the greatest start this week with the first game of a doubleheader averaging 14.60 million viewers. While that’s an impressive figure in anyone’s book, it falls short of last year’s MNF opener, which averaged 14.97 million viewers. The late-night second game averaged 11.1 million viewers, down 9 percent from last year’s 11.9 million for the second game. Still, ESPN was able to boast that it drew the highest ratings of the night — cable and broadcast TV included.