Frank Beamer‘s home finale was the top draw of a slow college football weekend on cable.
Saturday’s North Carolina/Virginia Tech college football game had 2.1 million viewers on ESPN, up 15% from Clemson/Georgia Tech last year (1.8M) but down 28% from Ohio State/Illinois in 2013 (2.9M). The rating was not immediately available.
The Tar Heels’ close win was the most-watched college football game of the day on cable, edging Mississippi State/Arkansas later in the night (2.09M to 2.08M).
USC/Oregon scored 1.7 million in the mid-afternoon window, up 22% from Oklahoma/Texas Tech last year (1.4M); there was no comparable window in 2013. The double-digit increase came despite competition from ABC’s Michigan State/Ohio State game, which scored the second-largest audience of the season on any network.
Shifting to primetime, the previously mentioned Mississippi State/Arkansas game had a 1.3 final rating and 2.1 million viewers — down 50% in ratings and 55% in viewership from Auburn/Georgia last year (2.6, 4.6M) and down 52% and 54%, respectively, from Alabama/Mississippi State in 2013 (2.7, 4.5M).
The California/Stanford nightcap rounded out the quadrupleheader with a a 1.2 and 1.9 million, flat in ratings and up 3% in viewership from Arizona State/Oregon State last year (1.92M to 1.87M); there was no window in 2013.
Elsewhere on the ESPN family of networks, Tennessee/Missouri was the top draw on ESPN2 with a 0.8 and 1.3 million — down 20% in ratings and 27% in viewership from LSU/Arkansas last year (1.0, 1.8M) and down 39% and 42%, respectively, from Florida/South Carolina in 2013 (1.3, 2.3M). ESPNU topped out at a 0.5 and 954,000 for Georgia Southern’s near-upset of Georgia, up 400% in ratings and 306% in viewership from UNLV/BYU last year (0.1, 235K) and up 150% and 174%, respectively, from Houston/Louisville in 2013 (0.2, 348K).
(Wknd. numbers via ShowBuzz Daily, TV Media Insights)
