Marquee teams in contention for the college football playoffs gave ABC a boost in overnight ratings over the weekend.
The Ohio State/Michigan State college football game drew a 4.2 overnight rating on ABC, up 121% from Notre Dame/Pittsburgh last year (1.9) and up 11% from Notre Dame/Boston College in 2012 (3.8). The 4.2 is the third-highest of the season for Saturday Night Football, trailing only Notre Dame/FSU in October (8.5) and FSU/Clemson in September (4.9).
The Buckeyes’ win would likely have done even better if not for competition from LSU/Alabama on CBS. That game had a 5.3 overnight, the highest of the weekend.
Of note, Ohio State/Michigan State was the site of ESPN’s College Gameday — marking the second-straight week the show has skipped the SEC in favor of another conference. In both weeks, the Gameday game was outdrawn head-to-head by the SEC on CBS.
Earlier in the day, Notre Dame/Arizona State drew a 3.5 overnight — up 17% from Nebraska/Michigan last year (3.0) and up 75% from regional action in 2012 (2.0). The Sun Devils’ win was also topped by the SEC on CBS, trailing Texas A&M/Auburn by 29% (4.5).
(Sat. overnights from Sports Business Daily)
