ESPN and ESPN2 saw huge gains for both Northwestern/Penn State and Arkansas/Auburn on Saturday afternoon. In other news, viewers tuned in to watch Georgia fall to South Carolina, but tuned out Florida State’s upset at the hands of N.C. State. Also included: overnights for Sunday’s WNBA playoff game on ABC.
- Big Increases For Noon ET College Football on ESPN: Saturday’s Northwestern/Penn State college football game drew a 1.9 overnight rating on ESPN, up a whopping 217% from Minnesota/Purdue in the same slot last year (0.6). Over on ESPN2 at the same time, Arkansas/Auburn drew a 1.2 — up 140% from Louisville/North Carolina last year (0.5). Both games crushed Kansas/Kansas State on FX (0.5). (Weekend numbers from Houston Chronicle)
- Georgia Loss Up, FSU Loss Down: South Carolina’s blowout win over Georgia drew a 2.3 overnight on ESPN Saturday night, up 28% from Auburn/Alabama last year (1.8). Over on ESPN2, Florida State’s upset loss to N.C. State drew a 1.0 — down a third from last year’s Georgia/Tennessee matchup (1.5). In the final game of the night, ESPN earned a 1.9 for Washington/Oregon; there was no comparable game last year. (Weekend numbers from Houston Chronicle)
- Lower Overnight For ABC’s WNBA Playoffs: Game 2 of the Lynx/Sparks WNBA Western Conference Finals drew a 0.4 overnight rating on ABC Sunday afternoon, down 33% from Mercury/Storm Game 2 in 2010 (0.6), the last conference final telecast to air on broadcast television. ABC’s first WNBA telecast this season, a regular season game between the Lynx and Mercury in May, drew a 0.8 overnight. (ESPN)
