Texas’ near-upset of then-#1 Alabama delivered big Noon ratings for FOX, topping Notre Dame-Ohio State as the top game of the young season.
Alabama-Texas averaged a 5.7 rating and 10.60 million viewers on the season premiere of FOX “Big Noon Saturday” over the weekend, topping ABC’s primetime Notre Dame-Ohio State game the previous week (5.2, 10.53M) as the most-watched game of the young season. Viewership peaked at a whopping 15.13 million from 3:15-3:30 PM ET.
Excluding bowls and conference championships, the Tide’s narrow win posted the fourth-largest college football audience ever on FOX — trailing three Ohio State-Michigan games. It also ranks as the most-watched Alabama game since their #1 vs. #2 matchup against LSU on CBS in 2019 (16.64M) and Texas game since their 2016 Labor Day weekend matchup with Notre Dame (10.95M).
Ratings and viewership increased more than a third over Oregon-Ohio State last year, itself a strong performer at a 4.25 and nearly eight million viewers.
It should be noted that Alabama-Texas will be an SEC conference game as of 2024.
Ranking a very distant second for the weekend, ABC scored a 2.4 and 4.46 million for Tennessee-Pittsburgh — up from Iowa-Iowa State last year (2.2, ~3.9M). ESPN took third place with a 2.2 and 4.33 million for Kentucky-Florida, the most-watched night game of the weekend and up comfortably from Texas-Arkansas last year (1.7, ~3.4M).
In fourth place, FOX scored a 2.2 and 3.92 million for its Alabama-Texas lead-out, Washington State’s upset of Wisconsin — actually down from Texas A&M-Colorado last year (2.5, ~4.5M).
Rounding out the top five, ABC drew a 1.7 and 2.96 million USC-Stanford on Saturday Night Football, down sharply from Washington-Michigan last year (2.55, ~4.8M).
Elsewhere over the weekend, Marshall’s upset of Notre Dame drew a 1.4 and 2.48 million on NBC. The first Notre Dame home game last season aired on Peacock. The other big upset of the weekend, Appalachian State over Texas A&M, drew a 0.9 and 1.77 million on ESPN2 — up considerably from UAB-Georgia last year (0.6, ~1.1M) and on par with the competing US Open women’s final on ESPN (1.0, 1.78M).
Airing a Pac-12/Mountain West game for the second-straight week, CBS plumbed the depths with a 0.48 and 808,000 for Colorado-Air Force, well below last year’s equivalent Air Force-Navy game (0.7, ~1.1M). The game ranks as the lowest rated college football telecast ever on CBS and in all likelihood the least-watched. The network drew 804,000 for Boise State-Utah State last year, but that figure includes an undercount of out-of-home viewing.
Finally, Friday’s Louisville-UCF game pulled a 1.05 and 1.85 million on ESPN2 — a solid increase over Kansas-Coastal Carolina last year (0.8, 1.30M) and the network’s most-watched regular season game since 2017 (Texas A&M-Florida: 2.11M).
(Nielsen estimates from network PR, ShowBuzz Daily 9.13)
