Facing competition from Alabama/South Carolina on CBS, last week’s Notre Dame game on NBC hit a three-year low in viewership.
NBC earned a 1.3 final rating and 1.844 million viewers for last Saturday’s Pittsburgh/Notre Dame game, down 68% in ratings and 72% in viewership from the network’s fourth Notre Dame game last year (USC/ND: 4.1, 6.466 mil), and down 28% and 26%, respectively, from the net’s fourth game in 2008 (STAN/ND: 1.8, 2.474 mil).
Pittsburgh/Notre Dame stands as the least viewed Notre Dame telecast on NBC since November 2007 (DUKE/ND: 1.709 mil), and only the third telecast over the past four seasons (25 telecasts) to draw less than two million viewers.
Additionally, the game is tied with last year’s Nevada/Notre Dame opener as the lowest rated telecast on NBC since that same November 2007 game (DUKE/ND: 1.2). This marks just the fifth time in the past four seasons that NBC has drawn less than a 1.5 rating for Notre Dame coverage.
The telecast drew a lower rating and fewer viewers than Sunday’s Pokerstars.net Million Dollar Challenge on FOX (1.5, 2.088 mil), which had the benefit of an NFL lead-in.
