A top five match-up involving one of the top draws in college football generated strong numbers on CBS.
Last Saturday’s Mississippi State/Alabama game drew a 6.4 final rating and 10.3 million viewers on CBS, up 88% in ratings and 93% in viewership from Georgia/Auburn last year (3.4, 5.3M) and the network’s top college football telecast of the season. The previous highs were a 5.3 and 9.1 million for Alabama/LSU the previous week.
Alabama’s win earned the season’s second-highest rating and viewership on any network, trailing only Notre Dame/Florida State on ABC in October (7.9, 13.3M). The Crimson Tide have now played in three of top five games.
For the week, Mississippi State/Alabama finished comfortably ahead of the second-place game — FSU/Miami on ABC (5.3, 8.7M). The SEC on CBS has been the week’s top draw eight times in ten tries, and an SEC team has played in the week’s top game nine times in twelve weeks this season.
(Sat. numbers from Sports Business Daily)
