ABC continues CFB ratings dominance in Week 5

ABC is off to a roaring start in the college football viewership department this season, establishing itself as the preeminent network for the sport in Year 2 of its SEC on ABC rights deal.

That dominance continued in Week 5, as the network once again aired the most-watched game of the week. Alabama’s primetime win over Georgia averaged 10.4 million viewers on ABC, beating out stiff competition over on NBC for Oregon-Penn State. ABC’s window actually saw a slight decline year-over-year, which happened to be the same matchup between Georgia and Alabama. Last year’s tilt averaged 11.99 million viewers in primetime on ABC, though faced much lighter competition on other networks.

ABC also won both the mid-afternoon and noon windows on Saturday. LSU-Ole Miss averaged 6.7 million viewers during the mid-afternoon window, up 33% versus Oklahoma-Auburn in the comparable time slot last season (5.04 million viewers). Additionally, Notre Dame-Arkansas at noon ET averaged 4.3 million viewers, up 8% versus Kentucky-Ole Miss last season (3.99 million viewers), and also beating USC-Illinois in Fox’s Big Noon Saturday window.

Overall, ABC has aired eight of the 10 most-watched games of the season so far.

Speaking of Big Noon, Fox’s marquee game of the week averaged 4.12 million viewers as the Illini secured a narrow victory over the Trojans. That audience is up 14% versus last year’s comparable game, 3.6 million viewers for Minnesota-Michigan. Through five weeks, Fox’s Big Noon Saturday is averaging 6.23 million viewers, up 22% versus last year’s average through Week 5. That figure is largely buoyed by a massive audience for the Week 1 game between Texas and Ohio State, which averaged 16.6 million viewers.

Over on NBC, the double-overtime thriller between Oregon and Penn State in primetime averaged 8.5 million viewers across television and streaming. When accounting for the primetime game on ABC, that means nearly 19 million people were tuned into college football on Saturday night. Per NBC, it’s the second most-watched Big Ten Saturday Night game since the network debuted the package in 2023. The game obliterated its comparable window, 3.09 million viewers for Illinois-Penn State last year.

Lastly, CBS also posted a strong viewership number on Saturday. Ohio State-Washington in the mid-afternoon window averaged 5.23 million viewers, an 81% increase versus Wisconsin-USC last season. The network fell short of ABC’s LSU-Ole Miss matchup, but not by much.

Once again, it’s important to reiterate that this season’s viewership figures are difficult to compare to previous seasons with the introduction of Nielsen’s Big Data + Panel methodology, and the expansion of out-of-home viewing measurements. Both changes serve to increase viewership figures for live sporting events.