Though not nearly as strong as the classic “Iron Bowl,” the Ohio State/Michigan rivalry was a big draw on Thanksgiving weekend.
Saturday’s Ohio State/Michigan college football game drew a 6.4 overnight rating on ABC, up a tick from last year’s game between the rivals (6.3), and 21% from their 2011 meeting (5.3).
The 6.4 overnight is the fourth-highest of the season for college football on any network, and the highest for a non-SEC game. It was only the second-best overnight of the day, however, trailing the Alabama/Auburn “Iron Bowl” on CBS (8.6).
Ohio State/Michigan crushed the Florida State/Florida game head-to-head (6.4 to 2.3) — no surprise considering FSU won in a blowout and the game aired on cable.
Ranking third for the holiday weekend was the Texas A&M/Missouri game on ESPN, which drew a 3.6 overnight — up 112% from South Carolina/Clemson on Thanksgiving weekend last year (1.7), and the network’s best Saturday college football overnight since week two.
Texas A&M/Missouri topped both primetime college football windows on broadcast. USC/UCLA on ABC’s “Saturday Night Football” drew a 2.6 overnight, and Notre Dame/Stanford on FOX drew a 2.2.
Shifting to Friday action, CBS earned the fourth-highest overnight of the weekend with the Arkansas/LSU game — down 7% from the same match-up last year (3.0), and 45% from the teams’ 2011 game (6.1). ABC drew a 2.3 for Iowa/Nebraska (-12%) and a 1.4 for Miami/Pittsburgh (-22%), and FOX also drew a 1.4 for Washington State/Washington (flat).
On Thanksgiving night, ESPN drew a 0.8 overnight for the Mississippi State/Mississippi game, down 27% from TCU/Texas last year (1.1). Overnights were not immediately available for Texas Tech/Texas on Fox Sports 1.
(Weekend overnights from Sports Business Daily, ShowBuzz Daily)
