ESPN scored one of the top college football audiences of the season for Michigan State’s last second win over Michigan.
Saturday’s Michigan State/Michigan college football game drew a 4.5 final rating and 7.4 million viewers on ESPN, up 104% in ratings and 103% in viewership from Alabama/Arkansas last year (2.2, 3.7M) and up 73% and 83%, respectively, from Michigan/Penn State in 2013, which went four overtimes (2.6, 4.0M). Both of those games aired in later timeslots.
The Spartans’ win was the top college football game of the week on any network, and scored the sixth-largest audience of the season. The seven most-watched games this season have aired on ESPN or ABC, with five of those seven involving a Big Ten team. It also ranks as ESPN’s most-watched mid-afternoon college football telecast on record (dating back to 1990).
Fueled by the MSU/Michigan lead-in, Florida/LSU drew a 3.9 final rating and 6.8 million viewers Saturday night — up 56% in ratings and 66% in viewership from last year (2.5, 4.1M) and up 22% and 33%, respectively, from in 2013 (3.2, 5.1M), both of which pitted Texas A&M against Mississippi. The Tigers’ win ranks ninth for the season among college football telecasts and third among games involving an SEC team.
In other action, Saturday’s Arizona State/Utah nightcap had a 1.9 and 3.1 million viewers. There were no comparable games last year or in 2013. The Noon ET Louisville/Florida State game had a 1.9 and 2.9 million, up 46% in ratings and 47% in viewership from FSU/Syracuse last year (1.3, 1.9M) but down 10% and 5%, respectively, from Missouri/Georgia in 2013 (3.0M).
Finally, Thursday’s Auburn/Kentucky game had 2.2 million viewers — up 66% from BYU/UCF last year (1.3M), up 34% from Rutgers/Louisville in 2013 (1.7M), and the top weeknight game since Florida State/Boston College on a Friday in week three (3.1M).
Over on ESPN2, Oregon/Washington topped the charts with 1.2 million viewers late Saturday night — down 32% from USC/Arizona last year (1.8M) but up 25% from Cal/UCLA in 2013 (966K). ESPNU topped out at 465,000 for Boston College/Clemson, up 45% from ECU/USF last year (320K) and up 30% from Georgia Tech/BYU in 2013 (358K).
(Wknd. numbers via ShowBuzz Daily [1], [2], TV Media Insights, ESPN)
