A lopsided matchup of unranked teams delivered poor numbers on CBS.
Missouri/Tennessee had a 1.5 final rating and 2.5 million viewers on the latest edition of the SEC on CBS, down 25% in ratings and 22% in viewership from LSU/Mississippi last year (2.0, 3.2M) and down 77% and 76%, respectively, from Mississippi State/Alabama in 2014 (6.4, 10.3M).
The 1.5 rating is tied as the lowest for the SEC on CBS since at least 2008, and likely further back than that. Complete records prior to the 2009 season were not available. Over that span, only South Carolina/Florida the previous week and Georgia/Vanderbilt in 2013 had as low a rating, both in the Noon ET window.
The 1.5 is also tied as the lowest of the season on CBS, regardless of conference, matching South Carolina/Florida and behind Notre Dame/Navy two weeks ago (1.6).
The Volunteers’ blowout win could only tie for the weekend’s top SEC rating, matching Alabama’s win over FCS Chattanooga on ESPN2 later in the night. It did eke out a slightly larger audience than the Crimson Tide’s 48-point rout (2.45M to 2.44M).
(Wknd. numbers via Sports Business Daily 11/23)
