ESPN earned its best college football numbers of the season for SEC action last weekend.
ESPN drew a 3.1 final rating and 4.7 million viewers for Georgia’s win over Tennessee last Saturday afternoon, up 63% in ratings and 69% in viewership from Oklahoma State/West Virginia last year (1.9, 2.8M), up 158% and 173%, respectively, from Penn State/Illinois in 2012 (1.2, 1.7M), and the season’s highest rated and most-watched game on cable.
The previous highs were a 2.8 and 4.7 million for Wisconsin/LSU in week one.
Tennessee/Georgia earned the second-highest rating and viewership of the week for college football on any network, trailing only ABC’s regional window later in the afternoon (3.5, 5.5M). It outperformed the SEC on CBS, which drew a 2.7 and 4.4 million.
Shifting to primetime, ESPN drew a 1.9 and 3.4 million for Missouri’s upset of South Carolina — down 17% in ratings and 16% in viewership from Mississippi/Alabama last year (2.3, 4.0M) but up 73% and 104%, respectively, from Florida State/South Florida in 2012 (1.1, 1.6M).
The late night Oregon State/USC game had a 1.6 and 2.7 million, up a third in ratings and 45% in viewership from Stanford/Washington State last year (1.2, 1.9M) but down 24% and 23%, respectively, from Mississippi/Alabama in 2012 (2.1, 3.5M).
In other action, ESPN2’s top game of the week was Duke/Miami with a 0.7 and 1.1 million Saturday night — down 59% and 58%, respectively, from Texas A&M/Arkansas last year (1.7, 2.8M) and down 41% and 38%, respectively, from South Carolina/Kentucky in 2012 (1.2, 1.9M). The top game on ESPNU was North Carolina/Clemson, which drew a 0.3 (-40%) and 680,000 (-28%).
Finally, ESPN’s Thursday night game between Texas Tech and Oklahoma State drew a 1.1 and 1.8 million viewers — down 27% in ratings and 20% in viewership from Virginia Tech/Georgia Tech last year (1.5, 2.3M).
(Sat. numbers from Awful Announcing)
