Despite the presence of Notre Dame, the latest edition of ABC’s “Saturday Night Football” had a dramatic drop in overnight ratings.
Saturday’s Notre Dame/Michigan State college football game drew a 3.3 overnight rating on ABC Saturday night, down 46% from Oklahoma/Florida State last year (6.1), and down 33% from regional action that included Notre Dame/Michigan State in 2010 (4.9).
The telecast was likely hurt by competition from the USC/Stanford game on FOX (2.5).
Despite the big decline, Notre Dame/Michigan State earned the highest overnight of the weekend for college football on broadcast TV (ABC, CBS, FOX).
Earlier in the afternoon, regional action featuring either North Carolina/Louisville or Navy/Penn State drew a mere 1.9 overnight — down 35% from last year (2.9), and down 27% from 2010 (2.6).
Saturday was not a complete wash for ABC. The Noon ET California/Ohio State game earned a 3.2 overnight rating, even with with Auburn/Clemson last year (3.2). There was no comparable window in 2010.
(Saturday’s overnights from Sports Business Daily)
