For the second straight week, college football’s defending champions gave ABC a big boost.
Regional college football action featuring Western Michigan/Ohio State earned a 2.8 overnight rating on ABC, up 65% from last year (1.7) and up 40% from 2013 (2.0), which were also regionalized windows. The nearly two-thirds increase is ABC’s second-highest in any window this season, trailing only a 90% jump for regional coverage featuring Northern Illinois/Ohio State the previous week.
Saturday’s telecast, which also featured Virginia Tech/ECU, second the second-highest college football overnight of the week. The concurrent Tennessee/Florida game on CBS took the top spot (3.2).
In other action, the UCLA/Arizona Saturday Night Football game drew a 2.2 overnight — down 55% from Clemson/Florida State last year (4.9) and down 29% from regional action in 2013 (3.1). The 2.2 is tied as the fifth-lowest overnight in the ten seasons of Saturday Night Football (115 telecasts).
The Bruins’ blowout win edged competing coverage of Utah/Oregon on FOX (2.1).
Rounding out ABC’s tripleheader, BYU/Michigan drew a 2.5 overnight. There was no comparable window last year. The Wolverines’ blowout win ranked third for the weekend among college football telecasts.
(Wknd. numbers via ShowBuzz Daily)
