Michigan gave FOX college football ratings a huge boost last weekend; SEC ratings slipped on CBS; the Cardinals topped the local MLB ratings race.
Michigan Gives FOX Huge Boost
FOX earned a 2.3 rating and 3.62 million viewers for last Saturday’s Michigan-Northwestern college football game, up 53% in ratings and 44% in viewership from last year (Iowa-Michigan State: 1.5, 2.52M) and up 77% in both measures from 2016 (Oklahoma-TCU: 1.3, 2.04M). It surpassed Wisconsin-Iowa the previous week as Fox Sports’ highest rated and most-watched game all season.
Despite the strong lead-in, the primetime BYU-Washington game had a mere 0.8 (-50%) and 1.29 million (-52%).
Over on FS1, last Friday’s UCLA-Colorado game delivered a 0.5 and 840,000 — down a tick and 22% respectively from last year (Nebraska-Illinois: 0.6, 1.07M).
SEC on CBS Posts First Decline
Tennessee-Georgia scored a 2.3 rating and 3.64 million viewers on the SEC on CBS last weekend, down a tick in ratings and 8% in viewership from the last year (2.4, 3.95M) and down 8% and 14% respectively from 2016 (2.5, 4.22M), both of which featured the same matchup.
The Bulldogs’ blowout win was the first SEC on CBS telecast this season to decline.
Cardinals Lead Local MLB Ratings Race
St. Louis Cardinals games averaged an 7.3 rating on Fox Sports Midwest during the completed 2018 regular season, up a tick from last year (7.2) and the highest average in Major League Baseball. The Boston Red Sox ranked second, averaging a 6.8 on NESN (+24%).
Elsewhere in MLB, Brewers games averaged a 5.48 rating on Fox Sports Wisconsin in Milwaukee — the team’s highest since 2014. Yankees games averaged a 3.60 on YES Network in New York City, the highest since 2012.
* UPDATED 10/6 to include Yankees numbers on YES.
[Numbers from Nielsen via ShowBuzz Daily 10.3; St. Louis Business Journal 10.3; Fox Sports Wisconsin 10.3; Boston Herald 10.2; YES Network]
