On a down Saturday for ESPN, ESPN2 scored big gains for college football.
ESPN2 earned a 1.4 final rating and 2.5 million viewers for Western Kentucky/Alabama Saturday afternoon, up 250% in ratings and 292% in viewership from Fresno State/Mississippi last year (0.4, 630K) and up 250% and 308%, respectively, from Ball State/Iowa in 2014 (0.4, 605K).
Alabama’s win was the most-watched college football game on ESPN2, excluding bowls, since their matchup against Tennessee in 2014 (2.6M). Keep in mind figures do not include viewership on WatchESPN. The combined TV and streaming audience was slightly higher (2.54M to 2.48M).
In other action, South Carolina/Mississippi State drew a 0.8 (+14%) and 1.4 million (+36%) in primetime and Wyoming/Nebraska had a 0.6 (flat) and 1.1 million (+19%) in the afternoon. With streaming viewership included, those games had 1.5 and 1.2 million, respectively. The network’s lone clunker was the Washington State/Boise State nightcap, which had a 0.4 (-37%) and 684,000 (-33%).
ESPNU also posted a big increase, scoring 800,000 viewers for Jacksonville State/LSU — up 91% from Ball State/Texas A&M last year (420K). With streaming included, it had 828,000.
On the flagship network, the news was less positive. ESPN scored a 1.5 final rating and 2.5 million viewers for Arkansas/TCU, down 38% in ratings and 40% in viewership from an earlier Oklahoma/Tennessee game last year (2.4, 4.1M) and down 42% and 43%, respectively, from a later Virginia Tech/Ohio State game in 2014 (2.6, 4.3M). The Virginia/Oregon nightcap had a 1.0 (-50%) and 1.6 million (-49%).
Penn State/Pittsburgh did manage an increase, with its 1.6 and 2.4 million up a tick in ratings and 8% in viewership from South Florida/FSU last year (1.5, 2.2M) and up 100% and 94%, respectively, from Missouri/Toledo in 2014 (0.8, 1.2M).
(Wknd. numbers via ShowBuzz Daily, ESPN Media Zone)
