Defending champion Ohio State’s first defeat generated a season-high overnight on ABC.
The Michigan State/Ohio State college football game had a 7.0 overnight rating on ABC Saturday afternoon, up 204% from Nebraska/Wisconsin last year (2.3), up 192% from regional action in 2013 (2.4), and the highest overnight of the season on any network. The previous high was a 6.6 for Ohio State/Virginia Tech on ESPN Labor Day.
Nine of the ten highest rated games this season in the metered markets have aired on ESPN or ABC, and six have featured at least one Big Ten team.
The 7.0 overnight is ABC’s highest in the 3:30 PM ET window since Michigan/Ohio State in 2006, a battle of the #1 and #2 teams in the country (13.7). Overall, it ranks as the highest for any afternoon college football game — excluding bowls and conference championships — since Alabama/Auburn on CBS two years ago (8.6).
Columbus, OH, was the top market for the Spartans’ last second win with a 42.0 rating. Dayton, OH (30.7), Cleveland (28.5), Detroit (26.0) and Cincinnati (17.9) rounded out the top five.
In other Big Ten action, the Noon ET Michigan/Penn State game drew a 4.1 overnight — down 5% from Ohio State/Minnesota last year (4.3) but still the highest of the season in the window. TCU/Oklahoma brought up the rear with a 2.7 overnight, down 56% from Florida State/Miami last year (6.1), down 23% from Stanford/USC in 2013 (3.5), and tied as the second-lowest of the season for Saturday Night Football (12 telecasts).
(Wknd. numbers from ESPN)
