Despite tough competition from ABC, the SEC on CBS attracted the week’s top two college football audiences.
Last Saturday’s Alabama/LSU game drew a 5.3 final rating and 9.1 million viewers on CBS, down 23% in ratings and viewership from the same match-up last year (6.9, 11.9), but the network’s top college football telecast of the season. The previous highs were a 5.1 and 7.9 million for Florida/Alabama in September.
Overall, Alabama’s earned the season’s second-best rating and viewership on any network — trailing only Notre Dame/FSU on ABC in October (7.9, 13.3M).
Despite the strong performance, Alabama/LSU ranks as the lowest rated and least-viewed primetime SEC game on CBS since Alabama/Florida in 2011 (4.6, 7.6M). Competition from ABC’s Michigan State/Ohio State game (3.9, 6.8M) undoubtedly depressed the numbers.
Earlier Saturday, the Texas A&M/Auburn game drew a 4.4 and 7.2 million — up 52% in ratings and 59% in viewership from Mississippi State/Texas A&M last year (2.9, 4.5M) but down 28% and 25%, respectively, from Texas A&M/Alabama in 2012 (6.1, 9.6M). The Aggies’ upset win topped Notre Dame/Arizona State on ABC head-to-head (3.0, 4.7M) and ranked second for the week behind only Alabama/LSU.
The SEC on CBS has been the week’s top draw in seven of nine weeks this season, and an SEC team has been involved in the top game in eight of eleven weeks.
(Sat. numbers from Sports Business Daily)
