A double-overtime game between top five teams is always going to be a big draw, but especially when those teams are Michigan and Ohio State.
ABC earned a 10.4 overnight rating for Saturday’s Michigan/Ohio State college football game, up 53% from the same matchup last year (6.8), up 89% from the teams’ 2014 meeting (5.5) and the highest non-bowl overnight on any network since LSU/Alabama on CBS in 2011 — a primetime matchup of the nation’s top two teams (11.9).
The Buckeyes’ double-overtime win, which peaked at a 12.7 from 3:45-4 PM ET, delivered the highest overnight for an afternoon college football game since the Alabama/Florida SEC Championship on CBS in 2009 (11.8). For the Noon ET window, it was the top rated game in the metered markets since at least 2005, and almost certainly further back.
The 10.4 is also the highest for the Michigan/Ohio State rivalry in a decade, since the teams met as #1 and #2 in the country in 2006 (13.7). That game aired in a later timeslot.
As goes without saying, Saturday’s game scored the highest college football overnight of the season — easily topping the previous mark of 7.0 for Notre Dame/Texas on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend. ABC has aired four of the top five games.
Columbus, OH, was the top market with a 43.6 rating, followed by Dayton (36.8). Major league markets Detroit (30.8), Cleveland (30.1) and Cincinnati (20.5) rounded out the top five.
(Sat. numbers from ESPN)
