Ratings: CFB on FOX, Notre Dame, Breeders Cup, Bowling

FOX averaged a 2.05 rating and 3.43 million viewers for last Saturday’s Oregon-USC college football game, its highest rated and most-watched primetime game of the season. Ratings increased 74% and viewership 76% from last year (UCLA-Oregon: 1.2, 1.95M).

The Ducks’ win topped ABC’s Saturday Night Football head-to-head (SMU-Memphis: 1.8, 2.95M).

It also outdrew Nebraska-Purdue on FOX Big Noon Saturday, which had a 1.8 (-42%) and 2.70 million (-46%) — the first time this season Big Noon was not the top FOX window of the week.

In other action, FOX drew a 1.3 (-52%) and 1.96 million (-56%) for Utah-Washington; FS1 drew a 0.25 and 377,000 for Northwestern-Indiana and just 296,000 viewers for Kansas State-Kansas (-38%).

Last Saturday’s Virginia Tech-Notre Dame college football game averaged a 1.9 rating and 2.95 million viewers on NBC, marking the network’s most-watched afternoon Notre Dame game in two years (2017 Navy-Notre Dame: 3.20M).

Ratings increased a tick and viewership 5% from the corresponding Notre Dame game on NBC last year (Pittsburgh-Notre Dame: 1.8, 2.82M).

The Breeders Cup Classic averaged a 1.1 rating and 1.74 million viewers on NBC last Saturday night, up 7% in ratings and 8% in viewership from an afternoon window last year (1.05, 1.61M), but down 15% and 13% respectively from 2017 in primetime (1.3, 2.01M).

Ratings and viewership topped only last year as the lowest for the event since 2011.

Airing adjacent to NFL coverage, the season opener of PBA Tour bowling averaged a 0.9 rating and 1.48 million viewers on FOX Sunday afternoon — marking the second-largest PBA audience since 2005. A December telecast last season averaged 1.77 million.