The SEC led the way on cable in week four of the college football season.
Saturday’s Mississippi/Florida college football game drew a 2.1 final rating and 3.7 million viewers on ESPN, up 11% in ratings and viewership from Missouri/South Carolina last year (1.9, 3.4M) but down 9% and 7%, respectively, from Mississippi/Alabama in 2013 (2.3, 4.0M).
The Gators’ rout was the top game of the week on cable, marking the fourth time in five weeks this season that a game involving an SEC team has topped the charts. Head-to-head, it trailed ABC’s Notre Dame/Clemson game (4.5, 7.7M) but topped Arizona State/UCLA on FOX (1.4, 2.2M).
The Oregon/Colorado nightcap scored 2.2 million, down 17% from Oregon State/USC last year (2.7M) but up 21% from Stanford/Washington State in 2013 (1.9M).
In other action, Iowa/Wisconsin drew 2.6 million in the Noon ET window — down 44% from Tennessee/Georgia last year (4.7M) and down 5% from Oklahoma/West Virginia in 2013 (2.8M). Florida State/Wake Forest drew 1.3 million later in the afternoon; there were no comparable windows last year or in 2013 due to NASCAR.
Elsewhere on the ESPN family of networks, ESPN2 drew a 1.2 and 2.3 million for Arkansas/Tennessee Saturday night — up 71% in ratings and 98% in viewership from Duke/Miami last year (0.7, 1.2M) but down 29% and 17%, respectively, from Texas A&M/Arkansas in 2013 (1.7, 2.8M). ESPNU topped out at 763,000 for Eastern Michigan/LSU, up 12% from North Carolina/Clemson in 2013 (680K) and down 20% from Florida/Kentucky in 2013 (950K).
(Wknd. numbers via ShowBuzz Daily)
