A double-overtime thriller between Oklahoma and Tennessee was college football’s top draw on cable over the weekend.
Saturday’s Oklahoma/Tennessee college football game drew 4.1 million viewers on ESPN, up 265% from Mississippi/Vanderbilt last year (1.1M) and down 41% from South Carolina/Georgia in 2013 (7.0M), both of which aired in earlier timeslots. The rating was not immediately available.
The Sooners’ double-overtime win earned the second-largest audience of the young season on cable, trailing only Ohio State/Virginia Tech on Labor Day (10.6M). It built on its lead-in, the U.S. Open women’s final, by 158% (4.1M to 1.6M).
The LSU/Mississippi State nightcap had a 1.9 final rating and 3.1 million viewers, down 27% in ratings and 28% in viewership from Virginia Tech/Ohio State last year (2.6, 4.3M) and down 64% in both measures from Notre Dame/Michigan in 2013 (5.3, 8.7M). Again, those telecasts aired in an earlier timeslot.
Rounding out ESPN’s tripleheader, South Florida/Florida State drew 2.2 million in a special morning timeslot — up 80% from Missouri/Toledo last year (1.2M) but down 52% from Florida/Miami in 2013 (4.5M).
In other week two action, ESPN2 scored 1.0 million viewers for both ECU/Florida and Boise State/BYU Saturday night — up 3% and 50%, respectively, from last year’s comparable San Jose State/Auburn and Colorado State/Boise State games. ESPNU topped the charts with 461,000 for Washington State/Rutgers Saturday afternoon, down 14% from Ohio/Kentucky last year (537K) but up 41% from Toledo/Missouri in 2013 (326K).
(Sat. numbers from ESPN, ShowBuzz Daily, TV Media Insights)
