The SEC on CBS just barely edged “Saturday Night Football” on ABC as the top college football telecast of week eight.
Last Saturday’s Florida/South Carolina college football game drew a 3.1 final rating and 4.9 million viewers on CBS — down 14% in ratings and 13% in viewership from Auburn/Louisiana State last year (3.6, 5.624M), and down 31% and 33%, respectively, from Louisiana State/Auburn in 2010 (4.5, 7.340M).
Though down from last year, the game earned the top college football audience of the week. ABC’s “Saturday Night Football,” featuring Florida State/Miami, finished a close second (4.8M). In the overnights, “Saturday Night Football” was the top broadcast.
Head-to-head, Saturday’s game outdrew regional college football action on ABC (2.6, 4.0M) and BYU/Notre Dame on NBC (2.4, 3.7M). Final ratings were not available for Stanford/California on FOX.
So far this season, four of the six SEC telecasts on CBS have had declines in ratings compared to last year. The only exceptions were Alabama/Arkansas in week three of the season (3.2, +7%) and LSU/Florida in week six (4.6, +44%).
(Saturday’s numbers from ESPN Media Zone)
