The Big Ten topped the college football ratings charts for a third-straight week.
Last Saturday’s Michigan-Penn State college football game averaged a 3.45 rating and 5.94 million viewers on ABC, marking the highest rated and most-watched game of week eleven. It was the third-straight week that a Big Ten game topped the charts, following a run of four straight weeks in which the SEC took top honors. [For the full list of 2021 college football ratings, see this page.]
The Wolverines’ win, which peaked with 8.7 million viewers, more-than-doubled last year’s comparable Indiana-Michigan State game (1.6, 2.44M) but declined 20% and 12% respectively from 2019 (Penn State-Minnesota: 4.3, 6.74M).
For the season, it ranks third among Noon ET games behind only a pair of FOX “Big Noon Saturday” windows — Michigan-Michigan State (5.1, 9.29M) and Oregon-Ohio State (4.3, 7.73M) — and ahead of the Oklahoma-Texas Red River shootout (3.4, 5.94M).
Ranking second for the weekend, Georgia-Tennessee averaged a 3.25 and 5.78 million on the SEC on CBS. There was no comparable window last year due to the rescheduled Masters; the comparable window in 2019 was a #1 vs. #2 LSU-Alabama game that drew a 9.7 and 16.64 million.
Georgia has now played in three of the top five CBS windows this season, though it could not crack the top two (Alabama-Texas A&M: 4.5, 8.33M; Alabama-Florida: 4.15, 7.86M).
Returning to Big Ten action, Purdue-Ohio State ranked third for the week with a 2.6 and 4.74 million on ABC — down 13% in ratings and 8% in viewership from Notre Dame-Boston College last year (3.0, 5.14M), but more-than-double the comparable 2019 window (USC-Arizona State: 1.1, 1.63M).
Ranking fourth, Oklahoma-Baylor drew a 2.2 and 3.72 million in the FOX “Big Noon Saturday” window — more-than-doubling last year (TCU-West Virginia: 0.85, 1.37M) and up 29% and 44% respectively from 2019 (Maryland-Ohio State: 1.7, 2.58M). “Big Noon” has posted triple-digit increases over last year in three straight weeks and four of the past five.
Rounding out the top five, Texas A&M-Mississippi was the week’s top game on cable with a 1.8 and 3.53 million on ESPN — up 38% in ratings and 45% in viewership from last year (Arkansas-Florida: 1.3, 2.44M) and up 50% and 63% respectively from ’19 (Missouri-Georgia: 1.2, 2.17M). Across all networks, it was the week’s top primetime game. The game provided a strong lead-in for Washington State-Oregon, which at a 1.1 and 1.99 million was the most-watched late night college football game since 2018.
Elsewhere in primetime, Notre Dame-Virginia drew a 1.8 and 3.28 million on ABC’s Saturday Night Football — down 31% in ratings and 30% in viewership from last year (Wisconsin-Michigan: 2.6, 4.69M) but up 13% and 21% respectively from ’19 (Clemson-NC State: 1.6, 2.71M). ABC averaged 4.70 million for its full tripleheader, its most-watched college football Saturday in the month of November since 2016.
In other action last weekend, FOX drew a 1.25 and 2.20 million for Maryland-Michigan State — on par with USC-Arizona State last year (1.3, 2.21M) and down 11% and 5% respectively from ’19 (Iowa-Wisconsin: 1.4, 2.32M). The net’s TCU-Oklahoma State nightcap pulled just a 0.85 and 1.37 million, down sharply from last year (Oregon-Washington State: 1.5, 2.73M) and ’19 (Iowa State-Oklahoma: 1.9, 3.17M).
ESPN’s Miami-Florida State game had just a 0.8 and 1.53 million, up 71% in ratings and 86% in viewership from last year’s comparable window (Colorado-Stanford: 0.49, 826K), but the lowest rated and least-watched game between the rivals since at least 2003. The game had a lower rating and slightly more viewers than its Mississippi State-Auburn lead-in (0.9, 1.53M).
ESPNU pulled its largest audience of the season with 487,000 viewers for Kansas’ upset of Texas, outdrawing ESPN2 (Kentucky-Vanderbilt: 446K) in the same window. ESPN2 topped out at a 0.7 and 1.16 million for Cincinnati-USF Friday night, up 62% in ratings and 61% in viewership from last year (ECU-Cincinnati: 0.42, 720K) and up 28% and 47% respectively from ’19 (UCF-Tulsa: 0.53, 787K).
[Nielsen estimates from ShowBuzz Daily 11.16, network PR]
