For the second straight week, an Ohio State rivalry game set a viewership mark on ABC.
Last Saturday’s Ohio State/Michigan college football game had a 6.4 final rating and 10.8 million viewers on ABC, up 31% in ratings and 32% in viewership from the teams’ meeting last year (4.9, 8.2M), up 10% and 14%, respectively, from their matchup in 2013 (5.8, 9.5M) and the highest rated and most-watched edition of the rivalry since 2006 — when they were the #1 and #2 teams in the country (13.0, 21.0M).
According to ESPN, the Buckeyes’ blowout win earned the third-largest audience for the rivalry in at least 24 years, trailing only 2006 and 1997 over that span. It also scored the largest audience for any Noon ET college football game on ABC since that 1997 game.
The Big Ten has now led ABC to a viewership milestone in consecutive weeks. Michigan State/Ohio State the previous week was the network’s most-watched 3:30 PM ET telecast since 2006.
For the season, Saturday’s game tied the second-highest rating on any network — matching LSU/Alabama on CBS in week ten and trailing only the aforementioned Michigan State/Ohio State game (6.6). It ranks as the third-most watched, with LSU/Alabama and Michigan State/Ohio State taking the top two spots (11.06M and 11.05M, respectively).
ESPN and ABC now account for eight of the ten largest college football audiences this season. One of the two networks has aired the highest rated and most-watched game in 10 of 13 weeks this season, after having done so six times in 15 weeks last year.
The Big Ten accounts for five of the top seven audiences, and Ohio State three of the top four.
(Sat. numbers from ESPN)
