ABC generated a pair of solid increases for last week’s Big Ten doubleheader.
Last Saturday’s Ohio State/Penn State college football game drew a 2.9 final rating and 4.7 million viewers on ABC, up 16% in ratings and 15% in viewership from the same match-up last year (2.5, 4.1M) but down 44% and 46%, respectively, from Notre Dame/Oklahoma in 2012 (5.2, 8.6M).
As one could expect, the game was crushed head-to-head by Game 4 of the World Series on FOX (6.3, 10.7M). It was also topped by concurrent coverage of Mississippi/LSU on ESPN (3.0, 5.0M).
Despite the relatively modest numbers, the 2.9 rating is the highest of the season for a national game between two Big Ten teams. Michigan State/Oregon (3.5, 6.0M) remains the top game to feature any Big Ten team.
Earlier in the day, Michigan/Michigan State drew a 2.4 and 3.8 million on ABC — up 8% in ratings and 14% in viewership from regional action last year (2.2, 3.3M). That game was also topped head-to-head by the SEC, losing to Mississippi State/Kentucky on CBS (3.1, 5.0M).
(Sat. numbers from Sports Business Daily)
