ABC’s “Saturday Night Football” got off to its best start in the overnights since 2006.
Saturday’s Clemson/Georgia college football game drew a 5.0 overnight rating on ABC, up 6% from both Michigan/Alabama last year (4.7) and Oregon/LSU in 2011 (4.7). The 5.0 overnight is the highest for the season debut of “Saturday Night Football” since the inaugural telecast between Notre Dame and Georgia Tech in 2006 (5.8).
Clemson/Georgia was Saturday’s highest rated college football game in the metered markets, topping Alabama/Virginia Tech (3.1) and Rice/Texas A&M (2.9) on ESPN.
Earlier in the day, regional action featuring Syracuse/Penn State or Mississippi State/Oklahoma State earned a 2.2 overnight — even with regional action last year (2.2). Reverse mirror coverage of the telecast drew a 0.5 overnight on ESPN2.
(Sat. numbers from ESPN)
