With the football team and the university mired in a much discussed scandal, Saturday’s Penn State game unsurprisingly set a ratings record on ESPN.
The Nebraska/Penn State college football game earned a 3.8 overnight rating on ESPN Saturday, up 120% from last year’s comparable Iowa/Northwestern game, and the highest overnight ever for a Noon ET college football game on the network (records date back to 2001).
The game easily topped college football action onand CBS (UF/SC: 1.9) ABC (REGIONAL: 1.6).
Saturday’s game was the first Penn State football game since school president Graham Spanier, athletic director Tim Curley, head football coach Joe Paterno and SVP of finance and business Gary Schultz departed the school for their role in neglecting to inform authorities of suspected abuse of children by former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky.
(Saturday’s overnight from USA Today, Albany Times Union)
