The Michigan-MSU rivalry delivered strong ratings in its Fox Sports debut.
Last Saturday’s Michigan-Michigan State college football game earned a 3.4 rating and 5.42 million viewers on FOX, up 240% in ratings and 262% in viewership from last year (Maryland-Wisconsin: 1.0, 1.50M).
Compared to last year’s meeting between the rivals, which aired in primetime on ABC, ratings fell 8% (from 3.7) and viewership 17% (from 6.51M). Versus their 2016 matchup, which aired in the same Noon ET window but on ESPN, ratings and viewership increased 17% from a 2.9 and 4.65 million.
For the season, Michigan-MSU ranks second among games on Fox Sports, behind only Texas-Oklahoma two weeks earlier (3.5, 5.61M).
Excluding bowls and conference championship games, it delivered the seventh-largest college football audience in Fox Sports history.
Aided by the strong lead-in, Colorado-Washington earned a 2.0 and 3.17 million on FOX later in the day — up a tick in ratings and 6% in viewership from last year (Oklahoma-Kansas State: 1.9, 3.00M) and up 122% and 132% respectively from 2016 (Utah-UCLA: 0.9, 1.37M).
Due to a weather delay in the Michigan-MSU game, the first 90 minutes of Colorado-Washington aired on the obscure Fox Business Network. The above figures are for the FOX portion of the telecast.
Rounding out the day’s action, Oregon-Washington State had a 1.6 and 2.59 million — up 129% in ratings and 118% in viewership from last year (Kansas-TCU: 0.7, 1.19M) and up 14% and 11% respectively from 2016 (Oklahoma-Texas Tech: 1.4, 2.34M).
The last six college football windows on FOX have increased.
FS1 also scored positive results last weekend, earning a 0.47 (+124%) and 783,000 (+155%) for Illinois-Wisconsin and a 0.30 (+20%) and 472,000 (+22%) for Kansas-TCU.
The full list of week eight college football ratings is available here.
[Numbers from Nielsen via ShowBuzz Daily 10.23]
