A nailbiter involving Notre Dame held up well despite World Series competition.
The Notre Dame/Temple college football game drew a 3.9 overnight rating on ABC Saturday night, up 26% from Ohio State/Penn State last year (3.1) and up 50% from Penn State/Ohio State in 2013 (2.6). The 3.9 is the highest for ABC’s Saturday Night Football opposite the World Series since Notre Dame/Oklahoma in 2012 (5.9).
Notre Dame’s narrow win scored the highest college football overnight of the weekend, marking the seventh time in nine weeks this season that ESPN or ABC has topped the charts. The 3.9 is also tied as the highest of the season for a Notre Dame game, matching the Virginia game in week two and behind only the Clemson game in week five (4.8).
Locally, the game had an 18.1 in Temple home market Philadelphia — the market’s highest on record for college football on ABC (dates back to 2004).
UPDATE 11/2: ABC also scored a 2.3 overnight for regional coverage earlier in the day, down 8% from Michigan/Michigan State last year (2.5) but up 15% from regional action in 2013 (2.0). The early Syracuse/Florida State game had a 1.8; there was no comparable window last year or in 2013.
(Sat. numbers from ESPN, Sports Business Daily)
