While Ohio State/Michigan was the headline attraction, ABC had success with other college football windows over the holiday weekend.
The Iowa/Nebraska college football game scored a 3.5 overnight rating on ABC Friday afternoon, up 52% from Stanford/UCLA last year (2.3), up 150% from Miami/Pittsburgh in 2013 (1.4), and the network’s highest Black Friday overnight in nine years — since Texas A&M/Texas in 2006 (3.9).
The Hawkeyes’ win scored the second-highest college football overnight of the weekend on ABC (five telecasts), trailing only Ohio State/Michigan the following afternoon (6.8).
Navy/Houston had a 2.1 overnight earlier in the day, down a tick from Nebraska/Iowa last year (2.2) and down 9% from that same matchup in 2013 (2.3).
Shifting back to Saturday, regional action featuring USC/UCLA in 65% of markets earned a 3.3 overnight — up 43% from regional action last year and Georgia/Georgia Tech in 2013 (2.3 both years). The telecast aired immediately after the previously mentioned Ohio State/Michigan game.
Oklahoma/Oklahoma State drew just a 2.6 on Saturday Night Football, up 18% from Oregon/Oregon State last year (2.2) and even with USC/UCLA in 2013 (2.6). If that seems surprisingly low given the hype, there is a good reason — the Oklahoma City market was not included in the numbers due to inclement weather. The game also faced competition from Notre Dame/Stanford on FOX, which finished comfortably ahead in the non-time zone adjusted preliminary numbers (overnights were not immediately available).
(Wknd. numbers from ESPN, with additional info via TV By the Numbers)
