Viewership for the Heisman Trophy Presentation soared in the event’s return to broadcast television.
Saturday’s Heisman Trophy Presentation, in which Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza won the award, averaged 4.3 million viewers on ABC — the largest audience for the event since 2012 (4.90M). It was the first Heisman to top the four million mark since 2013 (4.18M) and first to top even three million since 2015 (3.06M). While Nielsen did not track out-of-home viewing in its estimates until 2020, that is unlikely to make a difference in comparison to years when viewership was in the 1-2 million range.
Mendoza’s win, which peaked with 5.8 million, increased 69% from last year on ESPN (2.52M) — an increase that is far beyond the range that could be explained by Nielsen’s methodological changes this year (an expansion of out-of-home viewing and shift to “Big Data + Panel” methodology).
The deciding factor in this year’s multi-year high was less methodology than the shift to ABC after 31-straight years on cable network ESPN. Prior to this year, the Heisman last aired on broadcast television on NBC in 1993.
During its ESPN tenure, the Heisman typically anchored a night of high-profile programming, with documentary and even feature film premieres airing immediately afterward. This year, it anchored a full day of college football on ABC, including the Washington-Boise State LA Bowl — which led out of the Heisman with a 2.0 rating and 3.79 million viewers, marking the highest rated and most-watched edition in the five years the game existed. This year was the final edition.
A South Dakota State-Montana State FCS playoff game led into the Heisman with a 1.1 and 1.90 million — up 28% and 32% respectively from Mercer-North Dakota State in the same window last year (0.8, 1.44M) — and the South Carolina State-Prairie View A&M Celebration Bowl led off with a 1.3 (+7%) and 2.32 million (+12%).
(Photo by Morgan Simmons / ESPN Images)
Sans the Heisman, ESPN carried a full slate of college basketball games Saturday, topped by a 0.9 and 1.96 million for Indiana-Kentucky, which featured Charles Barkley and Dick Vitale on the call. The Wildcats’ win was the most-watched game of the season on ESPN and its most-watched December telecast in five years (with caveats regarding Nielsen methodological changes).
Kansas’ overtime win over NC State led-in with a 0.7 and 1.46 million and Arizona-Alabama led-out with a 0.7 and 1.35 million. Those were the three most-watched college basketball games of the week.
