FOX held the top spot in the initial count, but when all was said and done, the SEC on CBS reigned last weekend.
Tennessee-Florida earned a 3.2 rating and 5.1 million viewers on the SEC on CBS Saturday, down 36% in ratings and 37% in viewership from Alabama-Mississippi last year (5.0, 8.2M) but up 23% and 21% respectively from Auburn-LSU in 2015 (2.6, 4.2M).
Compared to the teams’ meeting last season, which took place in week four, ratings dropped a tick and viewership 7% from a 3.3 and 5.5 million.
Despite the declines, the Gators’ Hail Mary win was the weekend’s highest rated and most-watched college football telecast on any network, topping the second-place game, Clemson-Louisville on ABC (3.0, 5.1M). In the overnights, Tennessee-Florida actually ranked third — behind Clemson-Louisville and Texas-USC on FOX.
Florida and Tennessee have each played in two of the five-most watched games on TV this season, with no other teams making multiple appearances in the top five as of yet.
[Wknd. numbers via ShowBuzz Daily 9.19]
