A pair of SEC games gave ESPN a solid bump in primetime Saturday.
LSU/Auburn had a 2.4 final rating and 4.1 million viewers on ESPN Saturday evening, up 26% in ratings and 32% in viewership from Texas A&M/Arkansas last year (1.9, 3.1M) and up 14% and 18%, respectively, from Mississippi/LSU in 2014 (2.1, 3.5M), both of which aired in a later timeslot.
Auburn’s last second-win, in which LSU scored a game-winning touchdown that was waved off, scored the third-highest rating and viewership on cable this season. Mississippi/Florida State on Labor Day holds the top spot (4.8, 8.4M), with another Auburn game — against Clemson — ranking second (2.6, 4.7M).
Figures do not include the streaming audience on WatchESPN. With those numbers included, the game had 4.2 million viewers.
Later in the night, Arkansas/Texas A&M had a 2.3 and 3.9 million — up 64% in ratings and 81% in viewership from USC/Arizona State last year (1.4, 2.1M) and up 15% and 22%, respectively, from Oregon/Washington State in 2014 (2.0, 3.2M), which also aired in later timeslots. Including streaming viewership, it had 4.0 million.
The primetime doubleheader delivered the second and third-largest college audiences of the weekend, trailing only another SEC game, Florida/Tennessee on CBS.
Capping off ESPN’s all-SEC tripleheader, Georgia/Mississippi scored a 1.7 and 2.7 million in the Noon ET window — down 19% in ratings and 16% in viewership from LSU/Syracuse last year (2.1, 3.2M) and down 19% and 14%, respectively, from Georgia Tech/Virginia Tech in 2014 (2.1, 3.1M).
Over on ESPN2, BYU/West Virginia was the week’s top draw with a 0.6 (+100%) and 952,000 (+64%). Pittsburgh/North Carolina topped the charts on ESPNU with 440,000 viewers (+26%).
(Wknd. numbers via ShowBuzz Daily 9/27)
