Final ratings for Week 8 of the college football season (week ending October 23), including games on NBC (USC/Notre Dame), ABC (Texas Tech/Oklahoma and other regional action) and CBS (Auburn/LSU).
- USC/Notre Dame Up Big From Last Year, Down Big From ’09: NBC earned a 2.1 final rating and 3.225 million viewers for the primetime USC/Notre Dame game October 23, up 62% in ratings and 75% in viewership from the network’s fourth Notre Dame game last year (PIT/ND: 1.3, 1.844M), but down 49% and 50%, respectively, from the fourth such telecast in 2009 (USC/ND: 4.1, 6.466M). The telecast was down a tick in ratings and 9% in viewership from the most recent primetime Notre Dame game on NBC (ARMY/ND: 2.2, 3.531M).
- Big Declines For College Football on ABC: ABC’s Saturday Night Football, featuring the delayed Texas Tech/#3 Oklahoma game, drew a mere 2.1 final rating and 3.453 million viewers on ABC — down 51% in ratings and viewership from last year (OU/MIZZ: 4.3, 7.064M), and down 38% in both measures from 2009 (TEX/MIZZ: 3.4, 5.588M). The 2.1 rating is the lowest ever for Saturday Night Football (dates back to 2006). Regional action earlier in the day earned a similarly low 2.2 and 3.491 million, down 41% in ratings and 43% in viewership from last year (3.7, 6.092M), and down 51% and 52%, respectively, from 2009 (PSU/MICH*: 4.5, 7.243M).
- Steep Decline For Auburn/LSU: The #20 Auburn/#1 LSU game earned a 3.6 final rating and 5.624 million viewers on CBS October 23, down 20% in ratings and 23% in viewership from the same matchup last year (LSU/AUB: 4.5, 7.340M), and flat and down 2%, respectively, from 2009 (TEN/ALA: 3.6, 5.714M). Last year’s game was the second half of a doubleheader.
(This year’s numbers from TV By the Numbers)
