Ratings and viewership for many college football games during the 2009 season. Numbers for several games on ESPN/ESPN2 and Versus were unavailable.
203 college football games across CBS, ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and Versus averaged just over 3 million viewers during the 2009 season, up 9% from just under 2.8 million for 209 games last year. CBS led the way among the five college football broadcasters, averaging 7 million viewers during the 2009 season.
ABC was next with 6.1 million, followed by NBC (3.7 mil) and ESPN (2.9 mil). ESPN2 and Versus brought up the rear with 1.5 million and 326,000 viewers, respectively.
Keep in mind these numbers do not include last week’s Army/Navy game on CBS, which drew 5.6 million viewers.
The top game of the season was the SEC Championship Game on CBS (18.0 million viewers), followed by the Big 12 Championship Game on ABC (12.7 mil), USC/Ohio State on ESPN in September (10.6 mil) and Florida/LSU on CBS in October (10.5 mil).
Ratings/viewership for nationally televised college football games in ’09
All ratings are U.S. ratings
| Wk # | Date | Time | Game | Net | Rating | Viewers (000) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1
|
Thu., 9/3/09 | 7 PM | South Carolina/N.C. St. | ESPN |
2.1
|
3,263
|
| 10 PM | Oregon/Boise St. | ESPN |
2.5
|
3,855
|
||
| Sat., 9/5/09 | 12 PM | Navy/Ohio St. | ESPN |
2.6
|
3,877
|
|
| 3:30 PM | Georgia/Oklahoma St.* | ABC |
3.5
|
5,609
|
||
| 3:30 PM | Nevada/Notre Dame | NBC |
1.3
|
1,886
|
||
| 7 PM | BYU/Oklahoma | ESPN |
2.8
|
4,562
|
||
| 8 PM | Alabama/Va. Tech | ABC |
4.2
|
7,081
|
||
| 10:30 PM | LSU/Washington | ESPN |
2.1
|
3,362
|
||
| Sun., 9/6/09 | 3:30 PM | Mississippi/Memphis | ESPN |
1.5
|
2,307
|
|
| Mon., 9/7/09 | 4 PM | Cincinnati/Rutgers | ESPN |
1.5
|
2,248
|
|
| 8 PM | Miami/Florida St. | ESPN |
5.1
|
8,406
|
||
|
2
|
Thu., 9/10/09 | 7:30 PM | Clemson/Georgia Tech | ESPN |
1.7
|
2,643
|
| Sat., 9/12/09 | 12 PM | Fresno St./Wisconsin | ESPN |
1.7
|
2,456
|
|
| 3:30 PM | Notre Dame/Michigan | ABC |
5.2
|
8,391
|
||
| 4 PM | UCLA/Tennessee | ESPN |
1.9
|
2,985
|
||
| 7 PM | South Carolina/Georgia | ESPN2 |
1.6
|
2,729
|
||
| 7:50 PM | USC/Ohio St. | ESPN |
6.3
|
10,586
|
||
|
3
|
Thu., 9/17/09 | 7:30 PM | Georgia Tech/Miami | ESPN |
2.9
|
4,390
|
| Fri., 9/18/09 | 9 PM | Boise St./Fresno St. | ESPN |
2.1
|
3,090
|
|
| Sat., 9/19/09 | 12 PM | California/Minnesota | ESPN |
2.3
|
3,323
|
|
| 3:30 PM | Tennessee/Florida | CBS |
4.3
|
6,620
|
||
| 3:30 PM | USC/Washington* | ABC |
3.1
|
4,754
|
||
| 3:30 PM | Michigan St./Notre Dame | NBC |
2.7
|
4,001
|
||
| 7 PM | Florida St./BYU | Versus |
0.5
|
972
|
||
| 7:45 PM | Georgia/Arkansas | ESPN |
2.5
|
4,025
|
||
| 8 PM | Texas Tech/Texas | ABC |
4.1
|
6,673
|
||
| 8:45 PM | West Virginia/Auburn | ESPN2 |
1.2
|
2,021
|
||
|
4
|
Thu., 9/24/09 | 7:30 PM | Mississippi/South Carolina | ESPN |
3.1
|
4,717
|
| Fri., 9/25/09 | 9 PM | Missouri/Nevada | ESPN |
1.6
|
2,365
|
|
| Sat., 9/26/09 | 12 PM | Indiana/Michigan | ESPN2 |
1.8
|
2,661
|
|
| 12 PM | Michigan St./Wisconsin | ESPN |
1.5
|
2,126
|
||
| 3:30 PM | Miami/Va. Tech* | ABC |
3.9
|
6,114
|
||
| 3:30 PM | Arkansas/Alabama | CBS |
2.4
|
3,655
|
||
| 6 PM | Florida/Kentucky | ESPN2 |
2.2
|
3,643
|
||
| 8 PM | Iowa/Penn St. | ABC |
4.0
|
6,387
|
||
| 8 PM | Notre Dame/Purdue | ESPN |
1.8
|
2,815
|
||
| 9:30 PM | Texas Tech/Houston | ESPN2 |
1.4
|
2,301
|
||
|
5
|
Thu., 10/1/09 | 7:30 PM | Colorado/West Virginia | ESPN |
2.2
|
3,218
|
| Fri., 10/2/09 | 8 PM | Pittsburgh/Louisville | ESPN2 |
1.3
|
1,939
|
|
| Sat., 10/3/09 | 12 PM | Wisconsin/Minnesota | ESPN |
2.0
|
2,779
|
|
| 3:30 PM | LSU/Georgia | CBS |
3.5
|
5,542
|
||
| 3:30 PM | Washington/Notre Dame | NBC |
2.9
|
4,447
|
||
| 3:30 PM | Florida St./Boston College* | ABC |
2.6
|
3,853
|
||
| 7:45 PM | Auburn/Tennessee | ESPN |
2.1
|
3,531
|
||
| 8 PM | Oklahoma/Miami* | ABC |
4.8
|
7,834
|
||
|
6
|
Thu., 10/8/09 | 9 PM | Nebraska/Missouri | ESPN |
2.4
|
3,798
|
| Sat., 10/10/09 | 3:30 PM | Wisconsin/Ohio St.* | ABC |
4.2
|
6,373
|
|
| 3:30 PM | Alabama/Mississippi | CBS |
3.1
|
4,904
|
||
| 8 PM | Florida/LSU | CBS |
6.1
|
10,496
|
||
| 8 PM | Michigan/Iowa | ABC |
2.8
|
4,584
|
||
|
7
|
Wed., 10/14/09 | 8 PM | Boise St./Tulsa | ESPN |
2.2
|
3,195
|
| Thu., 10/15/09 | 7:30 PM | Cincinnati/South Florida | ESPN |
2.1
|
3,058
|
|
| Fri., 10/16/09 | 8 PM | Pittsburgh/Rutgers | ESPN |
1.4
|
2,023
|
|
| Sat., 10/17/09 | 12 PM | Oklahoma/Texas | ABC |
5.7
|
8,713
|
|
| 3:30 PM | Arkansas/Florida | CBS |
4.3
|
6,844
|
||
| 3:30 PM | USC/Notre Dame | NBC |
4.1
|
6,466
|
||
| 3:30 PM | Minnesota/Penn St.* | ABC |
3.2
|
—
|
||
| 7:45 PM | South Carolina/Alabama | ESPN |
2.8
|
4,615
|
||
|
8
|
Wed., 10/21/09 | 8 PM | Tulsa/UTEP | ESPN |
1.0
|
1,400
|
| Thu., 10/22/09 | 8 PM | Florida St./North Carolina | ESPN |
2.0
|
2,973
|
|
| Fri., 10/23/09 | 8 PM | Rutgers/Army | ESPN2 |
1.0
|
1,634
|
|
| Sat., 10/24/09 | 12 PM | Minnesota/Ohio St. | ESPN |
2.4
|
3,478
|
|
| 3:30 PM | Penn St./Michigan* | ABC |
4.5
|
7,243
|
||
| 3:30 PM | Tennessee/Alabama | CBS |
3.6
|
5,714
|
||
| 3:30 PM | Boston College/Notre Dame | NBC |
2.2
|
3,438
|
||
| 7:30 PM | Florida/Mississippi St. | ESPN |
3.4
|
5,668
|
||
| 7:30 PM | Auburn/LSU | ESPN2 |
1.2
|
1,938
|
||
| 8 PM | Texas/Missouri | ABC |
3.4
|
5,588
|
||
|
9
|
Thu., 10/29/09 | 7:30 PM | North Carolina/Va. Tech | ESPN |
1.5
|
2,259
|
| Fri., 10/30/09 | 8 PM | West Virginia/South Florida | ESPN2 |
1.7
|
2,538
|
|
| Sat., 10/31/09 | 12 PM | Indiana/Iowa | ESPN |
2.8
|
4,014
|
|
| 3:30 PM | Georgia/Florida | CBS |
4.4
|
6,932
|
||
| 3:30 PM | Miami/Wake Forest* | ABC |
3.2
|
4,781
|
||
| 4:30 PM | Penn St./Northwestern | ESPN |
1.6
|
2,409
|
||
| 7:30 PM | Washington St./Notre Dame | NBC |
1.4
|
2,339
|
||
| 7:45 PM | South Carolina/Tennessee | ESPN |
1.5
|
2,335
|
||
| 8 PM | USC/Oregon* | ABC |
4.2
|
6,833
|
||
|
10
|
Thu., 11/5/09 | 7:30 PM | Va. Tech/ECU | ESPN |
1.6
|
2,336
|
| Fri., 11/6/09 | 8 PM | Boise St./La. Tech | ESPN2 |
1.2
|
1,751
|
|
| Sat., 11/7/09 | 12 PM | Northwestern/Iowa | ESPN |
2.1
|
3,099
|
|
| 2:30 PM | Navy/Notre Dame | NBC |
1.9
|
2,809
|
||
| 3:30 PM | LSU/Alabama | CBS |
4.3
|
6,735
|
||
| 3:30 PM | Penn St./Ohio St.* | ABC |
3.7
|
5,863
|
||
| 7:15 PM | Vanderbilt/Florida | ESPN2 |
1.8
|
2,925
|
||
| 7:45 PM | Florida St./Clemson | ESPN |
1.4
|
2,239
|
||
| 8 PM | Connecticut/Cincinnati* | ABC |
3.6
|
5,993
|
||
|
11
|
Fri., 11/13/09 | 8 PM | West Virginia/Cincinnati | ESPN2 |
2.3
|
3,638
|
| Sat., 11/14/09 | 12 PM | Tennessee/Mississippi | CBS |
2.2
|
3,069
|
|
| 3:30 PM | Iowa/Ohio St.* | ABC |
4.3
|
6,738
|
||
| 3:30 PM | Florida/South Carolina | CBS |
4.0
|
6,347
|
||
| 7 PM | Alabama/Mississippi St. | ESPN |
2.2
|
3,459
|
||
| 7 PM | Auburn/Georgia | ESPN2 |
1.3
|
2,245
|
||
| 8 PM | Notre Dame/Pittsburgh* | ABC |
3.7
|
5,972
|
||
|
12
|
Thu., 11/19/09 | 7:30 PM | Colorado/Oklahoma St. | ESPN |
1.5
|
2,151
|
| Sat., 11/21/09 | 12 PM | Ohio St./Michigan | ABC |
4.2
|
6,773
|
|
| 2:30 PM | Connecticut/Notre Dame | NBC |
2.2
|
3,325
|
||
| 3:30 PM | Penn St./Michigan St.* | ABC |
3.0
|
4,602
|
||
| 3:30 PM | LSU/Mississippi | CBS |
2.9
|
4,448
|
||
| 8 PM | Oregon/Arizona* | ABC |
3.8
|
6,094
|
||
|
13
|
Thu., 11/26/09 | 8 PM | Texas/Texas A&M | ESPN |
3.7
|
6,692
|
| Fri., 11/27/09 | 12 PM | Illinois/Cincinnati | ABC |
2.2
|
—
|
|
| 2:30 PM | Alabama/Auburn | CBS |
4.9
|
8,124
|
||
| 3:30 PM | Nebraska/Colorado | ABC |
1.7
|
—
|
||
| 7 PM | Pittsburgh/West Virginia | ESPN2 |
2.5
|
4,137
|
||
| 10:15 PM | Nevada/Boise St. | ESPN2 |
1.8
|
2,997
|
||
| Sat., 11/28/09 | 12 PM | Clemson/South Carolina | ESPN |
2.2
|
3,302
|
|
| 3:30 PM | Florida St./Florida | CBS |
4.7
|
7,491
|
||
| 3:30 PM | Miami/South Florida* | ABC |
2.7
|
—
|
||
| 7 PM | Arkansas/LSU | ESPN |
2.3
|
3,812
|
||
| 8 PM | Notre Dame/Stanford* | ABC |
4.5
|
7,184
|
||
|
14
|
Thu., 12/3/09 | 9 PM | Oregon St./Oregon | ESPN |
3.6
|
5,727
|
| Sat., 12/5/09 | 12 PM | Cincinnati/Pittsburgh | ABC |
4.7
|
6,741
|
|
| 3:30 PM | Arizona/USC | ABC |
2.2
|
3,180
|
||
| 4 PM | Florida/Alabama | CBS |
11.1
|
17,969
|
||
| 8 PM | Texas/Nebraska | ABC |
7.5
|
12,693
|
||
| 8 PM | Georgia Tech/Clemson | ESPN |
1.6
|
2,541
|
||
|
15
|
Sat., 12/12/09 | 2:30 PM | Army/Navy | CBS |
3.7
|
5,597
|
