College football action was a mixed bag for ABC on Saturday.
Saturday Night Football, featuring Stanford/Oregon in 53% of TV markets, drew a 3.4 overnight rating on ABC — down 38% from last year (OK/MIA*: 5.5) and down 6% from 2008 (ILL/PSU*: 3.6).
The 3.4 overnight is the second-lowest of the season for Saturday Night Football (four telecasts).
This is the third time in five weeks that ESPN’s College Gameday has taken place from the site of ABC’s Saturday Night Football. All three telecasts have failed to draw at least a 4.0 overnight rating. To put that in perspective, 35 of the 53 all-time Saturday Night Football telecasts (66%) have drawn at least a 4.0.
ABC did much better earlier in the day, as regional action featuring Texas/Oklahoma drew a 4.8 overnight — up 71% from last year (FSU/BC*: 2.8) and up 37% from 2008 (WISC/MICH*: 3.5).
The 4.8 is easily the highest overnight of the season for an afternoon college football telecast on ABC, and the network’s second-highest overnight overall. Only the September 18 edition of Saturday Night Football (mostly Texas/Texas Tech) drew better numbers (4.9).
Last year’s game between the rivals drew a 6.4 overnight on ABC. That game aired in mid-October at Noon ET and was a national telecast (as opposed to regional).
Both of ABC’s games trailed Florida/Alabama on CBS (5.1).
Asterisk (*) indicates featured game of window.
(Ratings from Sports Business Daily)
