ESPN attracted its second-largest college football audience of the season for Wisconsin’s upset victory over then-#1 Ohio State.
Saturday’s Ohio State/Wisconsin game drew a 4.3 U.S. rating and 7.271 million viewers on ESPN, up 54% in ratings and 58% in viewership from last year (SCAR/ALA: 2.8, 4.615 mil), and up 187% and 202%, respectively, from the comparable game in 2008 (PSU/WISC: 1.5, 2.405 mil).
The game ranks as the second-highest rated, second-most viewed college football telecast of the season ESPN, behind only Boise State/Virgnia Tech on Labor Day (6.3, 9.888 mil).
The network’s previous #2 game this season was Penn State/Alabama on September 11 (4.2, 7.124 mil).
Ohio State/Wisconsin — a regular season college football game on cable — drew more viewers than Game 1 of the Giants/Phillies NLCS on FOX (7.126 mil), which aired at virtually the same time.
Additionally, the game topped Saturday’s NASCAR Bank of America 500 on ABC (5.345 mil), which preempted the network’s usual Saturday Night Football telecast.
In the key adults 18-49 demographic, Saturday’s game drew a 2.5 rating — again, topping both the NLCS on FOX (2.1) and NASCAR on ABC (1.5).
