ProShop 2009 Patriots Media Guide Other Products Kevin Faulk Equipment Replica Jersey Patriots vs. Jets Dueling Pin 2009 Randy Moss Equipment Replica Jersey Ben Watson Equipment Replica Jersey

The New England Patriots’ 27-24 victory over the Baltimore Ravens on ESPN on Monday night was seen by 17,522,000 viewers according to Nielsen Media Research, making it the most-watched program in cable television history. The number of viewers for the game surpassed the 17,241,000 viewers who watched High School Musical 2 on the Disney Channel on Aug. 17, 2007. That program held the previous record for the largest cable television audience.

As of today, Patriots games are also the two highest-rated programs of any kind since the 2007-08 television season began on Sept. 24. New England’s 24-20 win over the Indianapolis Colts on Nov. 4 earned a 20.1 rating on CBS, which is the highest of any television program of any kind on any channel this season. The second highest-rated program of the 2007-08 television season is the Patriots’ 48-27 victory over the Dallas Cowboys on Oct. 14, a telecast that earned an 18.0 national rating on CBS.

At any given point during the Patriots-Colts game on Nov. 4, 33.8 million viewers were watching, making it the largest audience for a Sunday afternoon regular-season NFL game since CBS began keeping records in 1987. In all, 66.4 million people watched at least six minutes of the Patriots-Colts game.

The Patriots-Cowboys also earned a historically high rating, although its records were eclipsed by the Patriots-Colts game the next month. The 18.0 rating earned by the Patriots-Cowboys game was at the time the highest-rated regular-season NFL game on CBS since the network resumed televising NFL games in 1998.

The Patriots-Ravens game this past Monday night earned an 11.1 rating, making it the highest-rated Monday Night Football game on ESPN and the highest-rated NFL game on ESPN in 12 years. The Patriots-Ravens game broke the previous ESPN Monday night record (10.6 rating) achieved by the Dallas Cowboys-New York Giants game on Oct. 23, 2006. The 11.1 rating for the Patriots-Ravens game was the highest-rated NFL game on ESPN since Dec. 3, 1995, when a Buffalo-San Francisco game garnered a 12.8 rating.