The game was not close, but the most meaningful Miami/Florida State game in years earned strong numbers on ABC.
The Miami/Florida State “Saturday Night Football” game drew a 5.4 overnight rating on ABC, up 184% from Oklahoma State/Kansas State last year (5.4), up 157% from regional action in 2011 (2.1), and the third-highest of the season for college football on any network.
Only Notre Dame/Michigan on ESPN in week two (5.6) and Alabama/Texas A&M on CBS in week three (9.0) drew better overnights this season.
Ranking a distant second for the week was the Florida/Georgia game on CBS, which earned a 3.4 overnight — up 70% from Mississippi/Georgia last year (2.0), and up 162% from Army/Air Force in 2011 (1.3).
Airing at the same time as Florida/Georgia, ABC’s Michigan/Michigan State game drew a slightly lower 3.3 overnight — up 27% from regional action last year (2.6), but down 27% from regional action in 2011 (4.5).
Rounding out the top five, ABC’s Noon ET regional window drew a 2.3 overnight, and NBC’s Navy/Notre Dame game drew a 1.8 — down 58% from Pittsburgh/Notre Dame last year (4.3), but up 29% from Maryland/Notre Dame in week eleven of the 2011 season (1.4).
NBC was not alone in having a massive decline over the weekend. On FOX, the Oklahoma State/Texas Tech game drew a 1.5 overnight — down 57% from USC/Oregon last year (3.5).
On cable, ESPN’s top overnight was a mere 1.3 for Illinois/Penn State and Tennessee/Missouri.
(Week ten overnights from Sports Business Daily)
