College football’s opening weekend was a mixed bag on ESPN/ABC in the metered markets.
Monday’s Virginia Tech-Florida State college football game earned a 3.8 overnight rating on ESPN, up 15% from last year (Tennessee-Georgia Tech) but down 28% from 2016 (Mississippi-FSU: 5.3).
The 3.8 tied the highest college football overnight on cable in two years, matching Alabama-Mississippi State last October.
For the weekend, the Hokies’ easy win ranked third among all college football windows. Michigan-Notre Dame topped the charts with a 4.5 on NBC Saturday. Sunday’s Miami-LSU game ranked second with a 4.1 on ABC.
Miami-LSU overnights increased 41% from last year (West Virginia-Va. Tech: 2.9), which aired opposite a competing window on FOX, and declined 41% from 2016 (Notre Dame-Texas: 7.0). (Per fast-nationals released Monday, the game had 6.5 million viewers; final numbers will be posted Wednesday.)
Shifting to Saturday’s action, Washington-Auburn drew a 3.6 overnight — down 28% from last year (Michigan-Florida: 5.0) and down 22% from 2016 (LSU-Wisconsin: 4.9).
Louisville-Alabama had a mere 2.7 on ABC’s Saturday Night Football, down 63% from Alabama-FSU last year, which set an opening weekend record (7.3), and down 45% from Alabama-USC in 2016 (4.9). Alabama’s blowout win trailed the higher-profile Michigan-Notre Dame game by 40 percent.
The 2.7 is the lowest ever for the season premiere of Saturday Night Football (dates back to 2006). The previous mark was a 2.8 for LSU-North Carolina in 2010.
Finally, Oregon State-Ohio State pulled a 2.6 in the Noon ET window (+63%).
[Numbers from ESPN]
