After no game cracked six million viewers in week four, no game cracked five million in week five of the college football season.
Mississippi-Alabama was the top college football game of the weekend, averaging a 2.7 rating and 4.79 million viewers on the SEC on CBS — the network’s most-watched game in week five of the season since 2015. The Tide’s easy win actually declined 3% in ratings, but increased 1% in viewership, compared to last year (Texas A&M-Alabama: 2.75, 4.76M). Versus the same matchup in 2019, ratings and viewership jumped 21% and 34% respectively from a 2.2 and 3.59 million.
Notably, the game averaged a 43.5 rating and whopping 65 share in Birmingham (Ala.).
Ranking second for the weekend, Michigan-Wisconsin drew a 2.5 and 4.31 million in the FOX “Big Noon Saturday” window — up 56% in ratings and 60% in viewership from TCU-Texas last year (1.6, 2.70M) and up 32% and 53% respectively from 2019 (Texas Tech-Oklahoma: 1.9, 2.81M). The Wolverines’ win outdrew ESPN’s competing Arkansas-Georgia game, the site of College Gameday (2.2, 3.85M). The FOX “Big Noon” game has won its timeslot in all five weeks this season.
FOX also drew a 1.5 and 2.62 million for Oklahoma-Kansas State later in the day, up 14% and 29% respectively from 2019 (USC-Washington: 1.3, 2.03M). The network is now averaging 4.03 million season-to-date, up 32% from 2019 (3.04M) and its best start to a season on record.
ESPN/ABC took the third and fourth-place spots. ABC’s Indiana-Penn State primetime game averaged a 2.3 and 4.00 million, up 8% from last year (Oklahoma-Iowa State: 2.1, 3.71M) but down 35% from 2019 (Ohio State-Nebraska: 3.5, 6.14M).
ESPN’s previously-mentioned Arkansas-Georgia game delivered a cable season-high 2.2 (+44%) and 3.85 million (+52%), its largest audience for a Noon ET game since 2016. ESPN ended up with the top two cable audiences of the season Saturday, its primetime Auburn-LSU game close behind at a 2.2 and 3.79 million — flat in ratings and down 10% in viewership from Auburn-Georgia last year (2.2, 4.22M).
Returning to broadcast, Cincinnati’s upset of Notre Dame ranked fifth for the weekend with a 2.2 and 3.81 million on NBC. Notre Dame’s second NBC game last season, a primetime matchup against Florida State, had a 1.6 and 2.92 million.
Other notable results from week five include a 1.7 and 3.06 million for Florida-Kentucky on ESPN — up 190% and 238% respectively from a midday Oklahoma State-Kansas game last year (0.6, 905K) — a 1.5 (+27%) and 2.64 million (+34%) for Stanford’s upset of Oregon on ABC, and a 1.4 (+25%) and 2.38 million (+33%) for ABC’s preceding Texas-TCU game. Weeknight games scored big increases, with ESPN’s Thursday night Virginia-Miami game (0.85, 1.41M) up 77% in ratings and 93% in viewership compared to 2019, and FS1’s Friday Iowa-Maryland game (0.8, 1.38M) up 27% and 39%.
Big Ten Network scored its top two audiences of the season, with 1.19 million for Ohio State’s rout of Rutgers and 1.16 million for regional action thereafter.
Beyond the games themselves, ESPN’s College Gameday averaged 2.16 million viewers — its largest audience in the month of October since it expanded to three hours in 2013 — and tripled FOX “Big Noon Kickoff” in the 11 AM ET hour (3M to 1.03M). For its part, “Big Noon” jumped 47% over 2019 (700K).
The full list of week five college football ratings is available here.
[Nielsen estimates from ShowBuzz Daily 10.5, network PR]
