The Ohio St./Michigan rivalry saw a decline in the overnights on ABC Saturday.
The Buckeyes’ win over the Wolverines drew a 4.5 overnight on ABC Saturday afternoon, down 12% from a 5.1 for last year’s meeting between the teams, and down 30% from a 6.4 in ’07.
The ’06 meeting between the rivals drew a 13.7 overnight. At the time, Ohio State and Michigan were the #1 and #2 ranked teams in the country.
Later in the day, regional action featuring Penn St./Michigan St. drew a 3.2 overnight — down 6% from regional coverage during the comparable week last year, which did not have a lead-in from an earlier game, and off 22% from the comparable window last week (mostly Iowa/Ohio St.).
Despite the declines, Penn St./Michigan St. topped both the SEC on CBS (2.6) and Notre Dame football on NBC (2.5) head-to-head.
Saturday Night Football, featuring Oregon/Arizona, concluded matters with a 4.0 overnight rating, up 14% from comparable regional action last year, but down 5% from a 4.2 last week (mostly Notre Dame/Pittsburgh).
This marks the first time since October 3 that overnight ratings have increased for Saturday Night Football.
