For the first time in 2018, the SEC on CBS delivered the top college football overnight rating of the weekend.
Alabama-Texas A&M scored a 3.5 overnight rating on the SEC on CBS Saturday, up 94% from last year (Alabama-Vanderbilt: 1.8) but down 5% from 2016 (Florida-Tennessee: 3.7). The 3.5 was the highest college football overnight of the weekend, marking the first time all season that CBS has topped the charts.
Head-to-head, the Tide’s easy win more-than-doubled both TCU-Texas on FOX (2.0) and Clemson-Georgia Tech on ABC (1.4).
The game was the top sporting event in its timeslot, topping stronger-than-usual PGA Tour coverage on NBC. The Tour Championship, featuring Tiger Woods en route to his first win since 2013, had a 3.1.
In other action, Stanford’s comeback win over Oregon had a 3.0 overnight — down a tick from last year (Penn State-Iowa: 3.1) but up 7% from 2016 (Stanford-UCLA: 2.8). Not counting the Pac-12 Championship game, the 3.0 is the highest for a Pac-12 conference matchup since USC-Washington on FOX two years ago (3.1).
Ranking third for the weekend, Georgia-Missouri scored a 2.3 overnight on ESPN (+44%), the highest overnight for a Noon ET game on cable since ESPN drew a 4.2 for Ohio State-Michigan State in 2016.
Rounding out the top five, Notre Dame-Wake Forest on ABC and the previously mentioned TCU-Texas game on FOX both had a 2.0 — down 31% and 17% respectively from last year’s comparable windows.
As for the weekend’s remaining windows, FOX drew a 1.9 for Wisconsin-Iowa Saturday night — down 17% from Notre Dame-Michigan State last year (2.4). ABC’s previously mentioned Clemson-Georgia Tech game (1.4) fell 44% from USC-Cal last year (2.5). ESPN drew a 1.5 for Florida-Tennessee (-6%) and a 1.4 for Arizona State-Washington (+17%).
[Numbers from Nielsen via Sports Business Daily 9.24; ESPN PR]
