For the first time in nearly a decade, overnight ratings declined for the Army-Navy game.
Saturday’s Army-Navy college football game delivered a 5.7 overnight rating on CBS, down 3% from last year (5.9) but up a tick from 2016 (5.6). The 5.7 trails only last year as the highest for the game since 1994.
The decline snapped a streak of seven straight increases for the Army-Navy game. The 2010 game was the previous one to decline, its 3.5 overnight marking a 16% drop from the previous year.
It should be noted that the three percent drop is so slight that Saturday’s game could still end up with an increase in the final nationals.
Despite the drop, Saturday’s game was still a big draw. It ranks sixth among college football games this season, trailing only the SEC Championship (Alabama-UGA: 10.5), Michigan-Ohio State (8.0), the Big 12 Championship (OU-Texas: 6.8), Alabama-LSU (6.7) and Ohio State-Penn State (6.1).
Notably, it scored a higher overnight than the Big Ten Championship (Ohio State-Northwestern: 5.6) and the Iron Bowl (5.4).
Keep in mind Army-Navy has the advantage of facing no other college football competition.
Overnights peaked at a 6.7 from 6-6:30 PM ET, down from last year’s peak of 8.5 from 6-6:15. Last year’s game came down to the final possession.
Top College Football Overnight Ratings of 2018
[Numbers from CBS Sports PR/Twitter 12.9]
