NCAA Week 2: Even With USC, Overnights Slide For College Football on ABC

With bad weather as a probable culprit, ABC’s college football coverage suffered a double-digit drop in overnights Saturday.

Regional college football action featuring either USC/Syracuse or Air Force/Michigan drew a 2.8 overnight rating on ABC Saturday afternoon, down 28% from Alabama/Penn State last year (3.9), but up 33% from Florida State/Oklahoma in 2010 (2.1).

The USC/Syracuse game was delayed more than an hour due to inclement weather. During the delay, the entire country received the Air Force/Michigan game.

Despite the lower numbers, the telecast earned the top college football overnight of the weekend on broadcast. With that said, the game was actually topped head-to-head by the Florida/Texas A&M game on cable network ESPN (2.9).

Earlier Saturday, the Penn State/Virginia game drew a 2.2 overnight. There was no comparable window last year.

(Saturday’s numbers from Sports Business Daily)