ABC continues to dominate in the college football ratings, having now won the largest college football audience on television for three consecutive weeks.
Saturday’s slate was highlighted by Miami’s convincing win over in-state rival Florida, which drew 6.5 million viewers at 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC. That game saw a 3% year-over-year increase versus ABC’s primetime game last season, Tennessee-Oklahoma, which drew 6.27 million viewers.
ABC also took home second place in Week 4, averaging 6.1 million viewers for Auburn-Oklahoma in the 3:30 p.m. ET window. The Sooners’ seven-point win was up significantly versus UCLA-LSU in the same window last season (2.73 million viewers).
CBS scored its strongest showing so far this season for a thrilling game between Michigan and Nebraska, which competed directly with the aforementioned Auburn-Oklahoma game in the 3:30 p.m. ET window. Michigan’s narrow win averaged 5.3 million viewers for CBS, down 16% from the network’s comparable game last season (USC-Michigan, 6.32 million viewers).
Fox took back control of the noon ET window this week after losing the time slot to ESPN in Week 3. Texas Tech-Utah averaged 4.04 million viewers for Big Noon Saturday, up marginally from Marshall-Ohio State in the comparable window last season (3.96 million viewers). Of note, Fox earned a very respectable audience for its much-bemoaned 11 p.m. ET kickoff between Michigan State and USC. The game averaged 2.1 million viewers despite ending at nearly 3 a.m. ET.
NBC’s top game of the week, Indiana’s lopsided win over Illinois, captured 2.7 million viewers on NBC and Peacock in primetime. Maryland’s win over Wisconsin in the noon ET window averaged 2 million viewers.
Of course, it’s important to note that historical comparisons are apples-to-oranges after Nielsen updated its methodology prior to this football season. Between the new Big Data + Panel measurements, and expanded out-of-home viewing introduced in February, networks can expect to see substantial viewership increases this season.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.