The SEC on CBS is not dominating the college football ratings like it used to.
Last Saturday’s Alabama/Texas A&M college football game scored a 3.6 final rating and 5.8 million viewers on CBS, down 5% in ratings and 4% in viewership from Auburn/Mississippi last year (3.8, 6.0M) but up 16% and 15%, respectively, from Florida/LSU in 2013 (3.1, 5.0M).
Of the five SEC on CBS telecasts that can be compared to last year, Saturday’s telecast was the fourth to have a decline in viewership. With that said, it still earned the second-largest audience on CBS this season — trailing only Alabama/Georgia two weeks earlier (7.0M).
The Crimson Tide’s blowout win trailed Michigan State/Michigan on ESPN head-to-head (4.5, 7.4M), and was not even the top SEC game of the day — also finishing behind Florida/LSU on ESPN (3.9, 6.8M). This is the second time in three weeks the SEC on CBS has featured Alabama against a top ten opponent, and both times coverage trailed competing Big Ten action on ESPN/ABC. The aforementioned Alabama/Georgia game finished slightly behind an ABC regional window that featured Ohio State/Indiana (7.3M).
So far this season, the SEC on CBS has failed to top the college football charts in six of seven weeks. By comparison, it was the top draw nine times in 13 tries last year.
(Wknd. numbers via Sports Business Daily)
