FOX “Big Noon Saturday” scored its largest audience yet; the Gators are drawing on cable; Sunday Night Baseball finished up for the season.
FOX, FS1, hit season-highs
FOX averaged a 3.1 rating and 4.73 million viewers for Michigan-Wisconsin on “Big Noon Saturday” last weekend, marking the network’s most-watched game of the season. It edged the previous mark of 4.72 million for Army-Michigan in the same window two weeks earlier. There was no comparable window last season.
For the third time in four weeks, FOX aired the highest rated and most-watched game in the Noon ET window, cruising past the second-place Tennessee-Florida game on ESPN (1.6, 2.46M).
Over on FS1, last Friday’s Utah-USC game averaged a 0.9 (+29%) and 1.42 million (+21%), marking its top game of the young season.
Gators drawing on cable
Last Saturday’s Tennessee-Florida college football game averaged a 1.6 rating and 2.46 million viewers on ESPN, marking the season’s fourth-largest audience on cable. Florida accounts for three of the top four, with their games against Miami (3.4, 5.97M) and Kentucky (1.7, 3.14M) ranking first and third, respectively.
The Gators’ rout still sank 20% in ratings and 26% in viewership from last year (Georgia-Missouri: 2.0, 3.33M).
ESPN also drew a 1.0 (+19%) and 1.54 million (+24%) for Louisville-Florida State; a 0.8 (-33%) and 1.37 million (-35%) for Oregon-Stanford; and a 0.9 (-18%) and 1.39 million (-24%) for UCLA-Washington State. It scored a 0.6 (+33%) and 1.03 million (+41%) for Houston-Tulane last Thursday.
On ABC, Oklahoma State-Texas drew a 2.2 (-12%) and 3.64 million (-13%), regional action a 1.7 (+38%) and 2.55 million (+41%), and Michigan State-Northwestern a 1.1 (-35%) and 1.53 million (-37%). ESPN2 topped out at a 0.8 (+167%) and 1.29 million (+205%) for Southern Miss-Alabama, and ESPNU at 392,000 for Cal-Mississippi (+86%).
Sunday Night Baseball up for season, despite weak finale
ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball averaged 1.60 million viewers this season, up 2% from last year (1.57M), but down 9% from 2017 (1.76M). In the season finale, Phillies-Indians averaged a season-low 0.42 rating (-38%) and 701,000 viewers (-32%), the smallest Sunday night audience since Angels-Astros two years ago (632K).
Cleveland’s blowout win started a half-hour earlier than usual (6:30 PM ET) to accommodate the Browns’ appearance on NBC’s Sunday Night Football.
The same Phillies-Indians matchup averaged a 0.38 (+31%) and 580,000 (+19%) on ESPN last Friday night. The Rockies-Dodgers nightcap had a 0.34 and 511,000.
In other MLB action, ESPN averaged 628,000 viewers for Yankees-Rays (+7%) and 368,000 for A’s-Angels (-14%) on Wednesday night and 531,000 for Indians-White Sox on Tuesday (-12%). TBS scored 240,000 for Cardinals-Cubs last Sunday (+55%) and FS1 chipped in 171,000 for Phillies-Indians last Saturday.
