On a slow college football weekend, ABC’s Saturday tripleheader topped the charts.
The Virginia Tech/Tennessee “Battle at Bristol” earned a 3.3 final rating and 5.8 million viewers on ABC’s Saturday Night Football over the weekend, down 31% in ratings and 27% in viewership from Oregon/Michigan State last year (4.8, 7.9M). There was no comparable window in 2014. Including the streaming audience on WatchESPN (86K), the game had 5.9 million.
The Volunteers’ blowout win was easily the highest rated and most-watched college game of the weekend. Head-to-head, it crushed Arkansas/TCU on ESPN (1.5, 2.5M) and BYU/Utah on FOX (1.0, 1.7M).
In other action, Tulsa/Ohio State delivered a 2.5 and 4.0 million on Saturday afternoon — down 32% in ratings and 30% in viewership from Notre Dame/Virginia last year (3.7, 5.7M) and down 39% in both measures from USC/Stanford in 2014 (4.1, 6.5M). The game, which was delayed at halftime due to weather, had 4.1 million with streaming viewership included.
In the first game of the tripleheader, UCF/Michigan drew a 1.9 and 2.9 million — down 37% and 36%, respectively, from Oregon State/Michigan last year (3.0, 4.4M) and down 10% in both measures from regional action in 2014 (2.1, 3.2M). With streaming viewership included, it had a slightly larger audience (from 2.86M to 2.92M).
The afternoon games ranked second and third for the weekend behind Virginia Tech/Tennessee.
(Wknd. numbers via ShowBuzz Daily, ESPN Media Zone)
