Neither FOX nor Fox Sports 1 lit the Nielsens on fire during week one of the college football season, but the latter at least mustered an increase.
Fox Sports 1 averaged 542,000 viewers for four college football telecasts during week one of the season, up 10% from five telecasts last year (493K). Sunday’s Baylor/SMU telecast led the way with a 0.4 U.S. rating and 762,000 viewers; there was no comparable telecast last year.
In other FS1 action, last Saturday’s North Dakota St./Iowa State game drew a 0.4 and 407,000 viewers — up a tick in ratings but down 17% in viewership from William & Mary/West Virginia last year (0.3, 493K). It was the only Saturday game on FS1.
Colorado State/Colorado the previous night drew a 0.4 and 592,000, flat in ratings and up 1% in viewership from North Dakota State’s upset of Kansas State last year (0.5, 585K). Finally, the network’s Thursday opener between Rutgers and Washington St. drew a 0.3 and 394,000 — up a tick and 27%, respectively, from last year’s Utah State/Utah debut (0.2, 311K).
While FS1 had a moderately successful week one, FOX struggled. Its Fresno State/USC game drew a 0.9 rating and 1.3 million viewers last Saturday night, marking the lowest rated and least-viewed primetime game ever on the network — and one of the smallest primetime audiences ever for a sporting event on broadcast TV.
(Week 1 numbers from Awful Announcing, Sports Business Daily)
