Burned by a blowout and tough competition, ABC’s Saturday Night Football ratings opened at a low.
Louisville-Alabama earned a 2.7 rating and 4.54 million viewers on the season premiere of ABC’s Saturday Night Football, down 61% in ratings and 63% in viewership from last year (Alabama-FSU: 6.9, 12.3M) and down 41% and 43% respectively from 2016 (Alabama-USC: 4.6, 7.94M).
The Tide’s blowout win was the least-watched season opener of Saturday Night Football since 2010 (LSU-UNC: 4.30M). It tied that game as the lowest rated opener in the series’ history (dates back to 2006).
It was also Alabama’s lowest rated and least-watched season opener on a Nielsen rated network in the Nick Saban era.
In addition to the lopsided result, the game was hamstrung by competition from NBC’s higher-profile Michigan-Notre Dame game. It trailed that game by a third in ratings (vs. 4.0) and 36% in viewership (vs. 7.09M).
ABC had better luck in primetime Sunday night. Facing no other college football competition, Miami-LSU scored a 3.8 rating and 6.55 million viewers — up 41% in ratings and viewership from last year (West Virginia-VT: 2.7, 4.65M) but down 41% and 40% respectively from 2016 (Notre Dame-Texas: 6.4, 10.95M).
The Tigers’ blowout win ranked second among opening weekend games, behind only Michigan-Notre Dame.
In other ABC action, Washington-Auburn had a 3.2 and 5.25 million Saturday afternoon — down 35% in ratings and 31% in viewership from last year (Michigan-Florida: 4.9, 7.65M) and 30% and 33% respectively from 2016 (LSU-Wisconsin: 4.6, 7.83M). It was the top afternoon game of the weekend.
Oregon State-Ohio State started the day off with a 2.2 and 3.49 million, up 47% in ratings and 50% in viewership from last year (Akron-Penn State: 1.5, 2.33M) but down 37% and 39% respectively from 2016 (Oklahoma-Houston: 3.5, 5.71M).
The full list of week one college football ratings is available here.
[Wknd. numbers from ShowBuzz Daily 9.4]
