The Ohio State-Michigan rivalry returned with its biggest audience in five years, capping a milestone season for college football’s new ratings leader — FOX “Big Noon Saturday.”
Last Saturday’s Ohio State-Michigan college football game averaged an 8.1 rating and 15.89 million viewers on FOX, marking the highest rated and most-watched regular season college football game since a #1 vs. #2 LSU-Alabama game on CBS two years ago (9.7, 16.64M).
The Wolverines’ win ranks as the highest rated and most-watched game in the Ohio State-Michigan series since 2016 (9.4, 16.84M), and trails only that game as their top matchup since a #1 vs. #2 meeting in 2006 (13.0, 21.0M). Ratings increased 15% and viewership 28% from the previous meeting two years ago (7.1, 12.42M). Last year’s game was not played.
Ratings and viewership were also the highest ever for a college football game on FOX, excluding bowl games. Even with bowls included, the game ranks fifth all-time among FOX college football telecasts — behind the 2007, 2008 and 2009 BCS National Championship games and Texas-Ohio State in the 2009 Fiesta Bowl (17.06M). The Buckeyes have played in four of the top five college games in FOX history.
Notably, Saturday’s game outperformed the first half of Sunday’s NFL doubleheader on FOX (mostly Buccaneers-Colts: 8.3, 15.07M). Outside of other football games and the Olympics, only college basketball’s national championship has averaged a larger audience since the wave of cancellations and postponements that decimated the industry in March of last year.
Ohio State-Michigan capped a milestone year for the FOX “Big Noon Saturday” window, which averaged 5.76 million viewers — up 13% from 2019 (5.11M) and the top college football window on any network. This is the first time that FOX has aired the highest rated college football window, a distinction that had previously been the exclusive domain of the SEC on CBS or ABC’s Saturday Night Football.
Overall, FOX averaged 3.90 million viewers for college football games during the regular season, up 5% from ’19 (3.73M) and its most-watched season yet.
The network wrapped up its regular season slate with a 2.6 and 5.05 million for Wisconsin-Minnesota and a 1.4 and 2.74 million for Notre Dame-Stanford. Minnesota’s win was the most-watched game in that rivalry in more than a decade, surpassing their 2019 matchup on ABC (5.03M). Notre Dame’s win was the least-watched game in that rivalry since 2010 on NBC (2.64M).
Compared to previous years, Wisconsin-Minnesota increased 28% in ratings and 57% in viewership from 2019 (Notre Dame-Stanford: 2.0, 3.21M); there was no comparable window last year. Notre Dame-Stanford nearly doubled last year’s comparable window (Arizona-UCLA: 0.8, 1.39M) but sank 55% and 53% respectively from 2019 (Oklahoma-Oklahoma State: 3.2, 5.82M).
Shifting to Black Friday, FOX drew a 1.6 (+5%) and 2.86 million (+6%) for Kansas State-Texas and a 0.9 (-13%) and 1.55 million (-11%) for Colorado-Utah, while FS1 topped out at a 0.6 and 1.21 million for Washington State-Washington.
Beyond the games, FOX “Big Noon Saturday” averaged 1.38 million viewers in the hour leading into Ohio State-Michigan, up 15% from the pregame period in 2019 (1.21M). ESPN’s College Gameday was still dominant in that period, averaging nearly three times as many viewers (3.03M).
Ratings, viewership, for Ohio State-Michigan rivalry (past decade)
[Nielsen estimates from ShowBuzz Daily 12.1, Fox Sports PR]
