ESPN Has Most-Viewed 'SportsCenter' Following Controversial 'MNF' Game

90-minute edition drew 6.5 million viewers from midnight-1:30 a.m. ET

By Tim Baysinger -- Broadcasting & Cable, 9/25/2012 5:36:04 PM

Following its coverage of the Green Bay Packers-Seattle Seahawks Monday Night Football contest, which featured a controversial ending, ESPN's 90-minute postgame edition of SportsCenter drew 6.5 million viewers, making it the most-viewed on record (airing 20 minutes or longer).

The previous record for SportsCenter (5.9 million viewers) also followed a MNF game (Minnesota Vikings-Green Bay Packers on Nov. 14, 2011). The postgame SportsCenter also drew a 5.2 HH rating, the second-highest in that measurement.

The game ended on a controversial ruling from the "replacement" referees -- the NFL is stuck in a labor dispute with the regular refs, locking them out -- which awarded the Seattle Seahawks a last-second come-from-behind victory. The outcome of the game was decried as a "disgrace" from sports TV personalities.

The game itself averaged 16.2 million viewers, the third largest audience among viewers for any program on cable television in 2012, according to Nielsen.