With ESPN airing blockbusters last year, this year’s week seven schedule could not measure up.
Saturday’s Mississippi/Arkansas college football game had 2.5 million viewers on ESPN, down 64% from Florida/LSU last year (6.8M) and down 30% from Alabama/Arkansas in an earlier window two years ago (3.7M). Ratings also fell 63% year-over-year (3.90 to 1.45M).
Despite the huge decline, the Razorbacks’ win was the most-watched game of the week on cable. It faced tough competition from the Ohio State/Wisconsin matchup on ABC (5.2, 9.0M).
Earlier in the day, Wake Forest/Florida State had a mere 0.6 and 961,000 — down 87% in ratings and viewership from Michigan State/Michigan last year, which was ESPN’s highest rated and most-watched game of the season (4.5, 7.4M).
ESPN also posted double-digit declines for its two other windows, though not by as much. Kansas State/Oklahoma had a 1.2 and 1.8 million in the Noon ET window, down 37% in ratings and 38% in viewership from Louisville/FSU last year (1.9, 2.9M) and down a tick and 9%, respectively, from FSU/Syracuse in 2014 (1.3, 1.9M).
The network closed out its quintupleheader with a 0.9 and 1.3 million for UCLA/Washington State, down 53% in ratings and 57% in viewership from Arizona State/Utah last year (1.9, 3.1M) and down 64% and 68%, respectively, from Mississippi/Texas A&M in ’14 (2.5, 4.1M).
ESPN did better on Friday night, with 1.9 million for Duke/Louisville — up 28% from Cincinnati/BYU last year (1.5M). Streaming viewership pushed the audience slightly higher (from 1.88M to 1.93M).
As for the other ESPN networks, Iowa/Purdue was the weekend’s top game on ESPN2 with 0.4 and 631,000. Last year’s comparable window was a reverse mirror of regional action on ABC (0.4, 504K). ESPNU’s top game was Minnesota/Maryland, with 312,000 — up 158% from USF/UConn last year (121K) and down 17% from Indiana/Iowa in 2014 (375K).
(Wknd. numbers via ShowBuzz Daily 10/19)
