ESPN NFL

BRISTOL, Conn. -- The emotional and triumphant return of the New Orleans Saints to the Superdome for the first time since Hurricane Katrina ravaged the city attracted the largest audience in ESPN's history and the biggest audience of the night among all television networks, broadcast or cable.

The Saints-Falcons game, the third Monday Night Football broadcast of the 2006 season, was watched in 10,850,000 homes, garnering an 11.8 rating. It was the third time in three weeks that Monday Night Football set such a high-water mark and the second time the network won the night in primetime. ESPN also was No. 1 among prime-time viewing on MNF's opener Sept. 11.

The Saints' 23-3 victory over Atlanta in a matchup of previously 2-0 teams was viewed by the second-largest audience in the history of cable television. It was also the first time ESPN has delivered an average of more than 10 million homes for a telecast.

"It was an honor to document a truly spectacular evening, and we're pleased to have been able to tell the full New Orleans story to so many," George Bodenheimer, president of ESPN and ABC Sports, said in a statement.

Also for the third week, MNF boosted ratings throughout the day for ESPN including the highest-rated and most-watched Monday Night Countdown and provided a major boost to ESPN.com and its new "Monday Night Surround" content. ESPN's four MNF games so far are cable television's best ratings and largest audiences of the year.

ESPN.com NFL and "Monday Night Surround" content viewed on computers and wireless devices generated more than 27 million page views Monday, a 39-percent increase over page views from a year ago.