The resumption of the Michigan-Notre Dame rivalry delivered strong results in the metered markets.
Saturday’s Michigan-Notre Dame college football game earned a 4.5 overnight rating on NBC, up 275% from Notre Dame’s opener against Temple last year, which aired in the afternoon (1.2). Versus the team’s 2016 opener against Texas, a Sunday night game on ABC opposite no other college football competition, overnights fell 36% from a 7.0.
Compared to previous games in the Michigan-Notre Dame rivalry, overnights increased 50% from the last meeting in 2014 (3.0) but fell 20% from the 2013 meeting on ESPN (5.6). The rivalry went on hiatus from 2015-17.
The 4.5 overnight is tied as the highest for any Notre Dame game on NBC since 2006 against Michigan (4.9), matching the team’s 2010 game against Michigan and a 2009 matchup against USC. It is also the highest for any primetime Notre Dame game on NBC (17 telecasts dating back to 2009).
According to NBC, the game was “easily” the top college football game of the weekend. Overnights for other games were not immediately available.
Ohio accounted for three of the top five markets, with Columbus first (16.2), Dayton third (11.4) and Cleveland fifth (7.4). As for the home markets, Detroit ranked second (15.4) and Indianapolis fourth (9.9).
[Numbers from NBC Sports]
