The Big Ten gave ESPN the top two spots on the college football ratings charts last weekend.
ESPN drew a 3.7 final rating and 5.8 million viewers for Saturday’s Ohio State/Michigan State college football game, up 185% in ratings and 180% in viewership from North Carolina/Virginia Tech last year (1.3, 2.1M) and up 185% and 223% respectively from Clemson/Georgia Tech in 2014 (1.3, 1.8M).
The Buckeyes’ near-upset, which peaked at 7.6 million viewers from 3:15 PM to the conclusion, was the top college football game of the weekend and ESPN’s top Saturday game of the season. It also ranks second among Noon ET games this season, behind Florida State/Louisville on ABC in week three (4.0, 6.2M).
Later in the day, Indiana/Michigan scored a 2.9 and 4.8 million — up 164% in ratings and 187% in viewership from USC/Oregon last year (1.1, 1.7M) and up 222% and 251% respectively from Oklahoma/Texas Tech in ’14 (0.9, 1.4M).
The Wolverines’ closer-than-expected win ranked second for the weekend, giving ESPN the top two spots for the first time since week seven of last season (Michigan/Michigan State and Florida/LSU).
Figures do not include streaming viewership on WatchESPN. With those numbers added to the mix, Buckeyes/Spartans had 6.0 million viewers and Hoosiers/Wolverines 4.9 million.
In other action, USC/UCLA drew a 1.4 and 2.3 million late Saturday night — up 17% in ratings and 20% in viewership from Cal/Stanford last year (1.2, 1.9M) and up 17% and 23% respectively from Arizona State/Oregon State in ’14 (1.2, 1.9M). With streaming viewership included, it had 2.4 million.
Rounding out ESPN’s quadrupleheader, Clemson/Wake Forest had a 1.2 (-8%) and 2.1 million (-0.3%). It was outdrawn head-to-head by Chattanooga/Alabama on ESPN2, which scored 2.4 million viewers — up 81% from Tennessee/Missouri last year (1.3M) and that network’s second-biggest audience of the season. Western Kentucky/Alabama had 2.5 million in week two.
(Wknd. numbers from ESPN, ShowBuzz Daily 11/22)
