A high noon battle of college football rivals attracted a big audience on ABC last weekend.
Oklahoma/Texas drew a 5.7 rating and 8.7 million viewers on ABC last Saturday, up 10% and 13%, respectively, from a 5.2 and 7.7 million for the same matchup in the same timeslot last year.
Texas’ win ranks as the third-highest rated and third-most viewed college football telecast of the season, behind only Florida/LSU on CBS (6.1, 10.5 mil) and USC/Ohio State on ESPN (6.3, 10.6 mil).
Despite the Noon ET start, Oklahoma/Texas was the second-highest rated sporting event of the weekend on broadcast, excluding the NFL. The game came within one-tenth of a ratings point of a primetime Angels/Yankees ALCS tilt later that night (5.8).
Elsewhere on ABC last week, regional coverage featuring Minnesota/Penn State drew a 3.2 final rating, down 30% from a 4.6 for comparable coverage last year.
