Alabama and Ohio State fueled big gains for ESPN last Saturday afternoon.
ESPN earned a 2.0 final rating and 3.3 million viewers for last Saturday’s Mississippi State/Alabama college football game, up 67% in ratings and 88% in viewership from Florida/South Carolina last year (1.2, 1.7M) and up a tick and 19%, respectively, from Georgia/Kentucky in 2014 (1.9, 2.7M).
The Tide’s latest rout was the most-watched game of the week on cable. Figures do not include viewership on WatchESPN, which brought the total audience for the game up slightly (from 3.26M to 3.33M).
Later in the day, Ohio State’s blowout of Maryland had 2.3 million viewers — up 32% from Oklahoma State/Iowa State last year (1.7M). There was no comparable window in 2014 due to NASCAR. Ratings increased 22% year-over-year (from 1.18 to 1.45).
The good times did not extend into primetime. LSU/Arkansas had a 1.4 and 2.4 million Saturday night, down 36% in ratings and 35% in viewership from the same matchup last year (2.2, 3.6M) but up 17% and 23%, respectively, from Virginia/Florida State in 2014 (1.2, 1.9M).
The Cal/Washington State nightcap had a 0.7 and 1.0 million, down 46% in ratings and 47% in viewership from Washington State/UCLA last year (1.3, 1.9M) and down an even steeper 56% and 63%, respectively, from Oregon/Utah in ’14 (1.6, 2.7M).
In other action, a pair of weeknight ACC games went in opposite directions. North Carolina/Duke had 1.6 million viewers last Thursday night, up 2% from Virginia Tech/Georgia Tech last year (1.5M) but down 18% from Clemson/Wake Forest in 2014 (1.9M). The following night, Boston College/Florida State had 1.2 million on ESPN2 — down 16% from USC/Colorado last year (1.4M) but up 91% from Utah State/Wyoming in ’14 (603K).
On ESPN2, the week’s top game was Wake Forest/Louisville last Saturday night with a 0.6 and 986,000. Ratings and viewership increased a tick and 32%, respectively, from last year’s 0.5 and 748,000 for Memphis/Houston. ESPNU topped out at 377,000 for Georgia Tech/Virginia Tech last Saturday afternoon, up 2% from last year’s comparable Miami/North Carolina game (367K).
(Wknd. numbers via ShowBuzz Daily 11/15)
