Two decades in, ABC’s “Saturday Night Football” is the most-watched college football window for a second-straight season.
ABC’s “Saturday Night Football” ranks as the most-watched college football window of the season through eight weeks, averaging 8.9 million viewers — up 9% from the same point last year. The most recent edition, Mississippi-Texas this past weekend, was the most-watched of week eight with a 3.8 rating and 8.09 million opposite the World Series.
The Longhorns’ win — which peaked with 9.2 million viewers — was flat in ratings and up 1% in viewership from Alabama-Tennessee in week eight last year (3.8, 8.01M). Note that due to the earlier start of last season, week eight did not coincide with the World Series. Compared to Texas A&M-LSU opposite the World Series last year, which took place in week nine, viewership increased a steeper 20% from 6.76 million.
“Saturday Night Football” accounts for four of the seven-largest audiences this season, including the top three, with most — but not all — involving the SEC.
ABC is also the most-watched network in the mid-afternoon window, though its average of 6.8 million is down 17% from last year. Texas A&M-Alabama this past week averaged a 2.8 and 5.90 million, down sharply from Mississippi-Georgia last year (9.79M). The game faced tougher-than-usual competition from BYU-UCF on FOX, which with 4.74 million viewers was the network’s most-watched game in the mid-afternoon slot in two years.
Both for the weekend and for the season, ABC ranks second in the Noon ET window behind FOX “Big Noon Saturday.” FOX averaged a 3.5 and 7.015 million for Indiana-Michigan this past weekend, topping the Noon ET slot for a third-straight week (all involving the Hoosiers) and the second-largest audience of the weekend overall.
ABC was a distant second with a 1.7 and 3.48 million for LSU-Auburn, down from LSU-Vanderbilt a year ago (5.94M). The network’s average of 4.7 million in the Noon ET window is still up 11% year-over-year.
Beyond ABC and FOX, only one game in week eight averaged three million viewers — Tennessee-South Carolina on ESPN at 3.04 million. NBC’s USC-Wisconsin game had 2.1 million in primetime across a Nielsen-measured linear audience and streaming viewership tracked by Adobe Analytics.
