Even against diminished LSU-Alabama competition, ABC’s Saturday Night Football ratings took a hit last weekend.
Virginia Tech-Miami had a 1.8 rating and 3.0 million viewers on ABC last Saturday night, down 36% in ratings and 39% in viewership from Nebraska-Ohio State last year (2.8, 5.0M) and down a third and 36% respectively from Minnesota-Ohio State in 2015 (2.7, 4.7M).
The Hurricanes’ win tied the second-lowest rating in the history of Saturday Night Football (dates back to 2006), matching Kansas State-Oklahoma State in 2011 and ahead of only UCLA-Arizona in 2015 (1.6).
After a strong start to the season, three of ABC’s past four Saturday night games have declined double-digits from last year.
Saturday’s game was trounced head-to-head by LSU-Alabama, which itself was down double-digits to a 3.9 and 6.7 million.
ABC fared better earlier in the day, scoring a 1.8 (+13%) and 2.834 million (+18%) for Wisconsin-Indiana a 1.8 (+6%) and 2.831 million (+9%) for Clemson-N.C. State.
The week ten college football ratings chart is available here.
2017 Saturday Night Football Ratings/Viewership
| Date, Time | Game | Rtg. | vs. 2016 | Vwrs. | vs. 2016 |
| Sept. 2, 8:00 PM | Alabama-FSU | 6.9 | +50% | 12.335M | +55% |
| Sept. 9, 7:30 PM | Oklahoma-Ohio State | 4.6 | +39% | 8.081M | +40% |
| Sept. 16, 8:00 PM | Clemson-Louisville | 3.0 | +67% | 5.064M | +76% |
| Sept. 23, 7:30 PM | Penn State-Iowa | 3.1 | +29% | 5.259M | +39% |
| Sept. 30, 8:00 PM | Clemson-Va. Tech | 2.7 | -51% | 4.613M | -50% |
| Oct. 7, 7:30 PM | Michigan St.-Michigan | 3.7 | +16% | 6.508M | +17% |
| Oct. 14, 8:00 PM | Utah-USC | 2.0 | -62% | 3.192M | -64% |
| Oct. 21, 7:30 PM | Michigan-Penn State | 3.9 | even | 6.954M | +7% |
| Oct. 28, 8:00 PM | GT-CLEM or TTU-OU | 2.0 | -38% | 3.464M | -36% |
| Nov. 4, 8:00 PM | Va. Tech-Miami | 1.8 | -36% | 3.011M | -39% |
[Wknd. numbers via ShowBuzz Daily 11.7]
