Even in a relatively mediocre week for college football on TV, the Big Ten and SEC topped the charts.
Last Saturday’s Tennessee/Alabama college football game earned a 2.6 final rating and 4.0 million viewers on CBS, down 38% in ratings from Florida/Georgia last year (4.2), and down 19% and 20%, respectively, from Georgia/Florida in 2011 (3.2, 5.0M).
Despite the declines, Tennessee/Alabama was the highest rated college football telecast of the week. [For the full list of Week 9 college football ratings, click here.]
Ranking second for the week was Penn State/Ohio State on ABC, which earned a 2.5 and 4.0 million — down 51% in ratings and 53% in viewership from Notre Dame/Oklahoma last year (5.2, 8.6M), and down 53% and 52%, respectively, from regional action in 2011 (5.3, 8.4M). The game edged Tennessee/Alabama as the most-viewed game of the week (4.06M to 4.03M).
Penn State/Ohio State was crushed head-to-head by Game 3 of the World Series on FOX (7.4, 12.5M). Adults 18-49 watched the World Series over Saturday’s game by a 3-to-1 margin (3.3 to 1.1).
FOX had its strongest performance of the season with the delayed, abbreviated coverage of the Texas Tech/Oklahoma game. The game earned a season-high 2.4 rating and 3.8 million viewers on FOX, and the conclusion drew a 1.0 and 1.5 million on the Fox News Channel cable network.
Rounding out the top five, ESPN earned a 2.3 and 3.7 million for Oregon/UCLA, and regional action on ABC drew a 2.2 and 3.3 million.
In other action last week, ESPN2 drew a season-high 1.8 U.S. rating and 3.1 million viewers for South Carolina’s upset of Missouri. Meanwhile, Fox Sports 1 drew a 0.4 and 676,000 for abbreviated coverage of the Texas/TCU game, while Fox Sports 2 earned a 0.1 and 108,000 for the late night conclusion.
The biggest dud of the week was the Thursday night (October 24) game between Marshall and Middle Tennessee on FS1, which earned just 91,000 viewers. The game faced competition from Kentucky/Mississippi State on ESPN and the World Series on FOX.
(Last week’s numbers from Sports Business Daily, Son of the Bronx [1], [2], [3])
