The SEC Championship was a huge draw as usual, though the numbers were not as strong as in previous years.
Alabama/Florida scored a 6.6 final rating and 11.1 million viewers in Saturday’s SEC Championship Game on CBS, down 15% in ratings and 13% in viewership from a 7.8 and 12.8 million the past two years, and the lowest marks for the SEC title game since Auburn/South Carolina in 2010 (6.0, 10.1M).
Since hitting a 9.8 in 2012, ratings have fallen or flattened in four straight years.
Despite the lower numbers, the Tide’s easy win was the highest rated and most-watched college football game of last weekend — ranking comfortably ahead of the second-place finisher, the Penn State/Wisconsin Big Ten Championship on FOX (5.3, 9.2M). The SEC has delivered the top rated conference championship game every year since 2007.
Dating back to 2001, when CBS began carrying the SEC Championship, the SEC has accounted for nine of the 11 highest rated and most-watched conference championship games. The 2013 Big Ten Championship on FOX (7.9, 13.0M) and the 2009 Big 12 Championship on ABC (7.5, 12.7M) are the lone exceptions.
For the season, Alabama/Florida ranks second in ratings and viewership behind only Michigan/Ohio State on ABC two weeks earlier (9.4, 16.8M). The SEC on CBS finished the year averaging a 3.4 rating and 5.7 million viewers, tying last year and 2008 as the series’ lowest rated season in at least a decade.
| HIGHEST RATED/MOST WATCHED CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES, 2001-PRESENT SEC games highlighted |
|||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Year | Highest Rated | Rtg. | # | Year | Most Watched | Vwrs. |
| 1 | 2009 SEC |
Alabama Florida |
11.1 | 1 | 2009 SEC |
Alabama Florida |
17.97M |
| 2 | 2012 SEC |
Alabama Georgia |
9.8 | 2 | 2012 SEC |
Alabama Georgia |
16.20M |
| 3 | 2008 SEC |
Florida Alabama |
9.3 | 3 | 2008 SEC |
Florida Alabama |
15.06M |
| 4 | 2013 SEC |
Auburn Missouri |
8.6 | 4 | 2013 SEC |
Auburn Missouri |
14.35M |
| T5 | 2013 B1G |
Ohio St. Mich. St. |
7.9 | 5 | 2013 B1G |
Ohio St. Mich. St. |
13.00M |
| T5 | 2001 SEC |
LSU Tenn. |
7.9 | T6 | 2014 SEC |
Alabama Missouri |
12.80M |
| T7 | 2014 SEC |
Alabama Missouri |
7.8 | T6 | 2015 SEC |
Alabama Florida |
12.76M |
| T7 | 2015 SEC |
Alabama Florida |
7.8 | 8 | 2009 B12 |
Texas Nebraska |
12.69M |
| 9 | 2009 B12 |
Texas Nebraska |
7.5 | 9 | 2001 SEC |
LSU Tenn. |
12.47M |
| 10 | 2011 SEC |
LSU Georgia |
7.3 | 10 | 2011 SEC |
LSU Georgia |
12.02M |
| T11 | 2016 SEC |
Alabama Florida |
6.6 | 11 | 2016 SEC |
Alabama Florida |
11.09M |
| T11 | 2007 B12 |
Oklahoma Missouri |
6.6 | 12 | 2007 B12 |
Oklahoma Missouri |
10.84M |
| T11 | 2003 B12 |
K-State Oklahoma |
6.6 | 13 | 2014 ACC |
FSU Ga. Tech |
10.15M |
| 14 | 2001 B12 |
Colorado Texas |
6.4 | 14 | 2010 SEC |
Auburn S. Car. |
10.09M |
| 15 | 2014 ACC |
FSU Ga. Tech |
6.2 | 15 | 2003 B12 |
K-State Oklahoma |
10.00M |
(Wknd. numbers via ShowBuzz Daily 12/6)
