Opposite NBC’s Michigan/Notre Dame game, last week’s edition of “Saturday Night Football” suffered a big drop in ratings and viewership.
Last week’s Clemson/Florida State “Saturday Night Football” game drew a 2.9 U.S. rating and 4.774 million viewers on ABC, down 29% in ratings and 27% in viewership from Louisiana State/West Virginia last year (4.1, 6.503M), and down 15% in both measures compared to Oregon State/Boise State in 2010 (3.4, 5.587M).
The telecast was outdrawn head-to-head by Michigan/Notre Dame on NBC (4.0, 6.384M), but topped Kansas State/Oklahoma on FOX (1.8, 2.816M). Overall, the game ranked as the second-most viewed college football telecast of the weekend.
Only two “Saturday Night Football” telecasts all of last season drew lower numbers than Clemson/Florida State.
Earlier Saturday, regional coverage featuring either Oklahoma State/UCLA or Temple/Penn State drew a 2.3 final rating — down 32% from coverage featuring Oklahoma State/Texas A&M last year (3.4), and down 8% from coverage featuring UCLA/Texas in 2010 (2.5).
(Saturday’s numbers from ESPN Media Zone, Sports Business Daily)
