College football coverage takes a hit on Saturday
November 2, 2016
The NFL’s ratings declines this season have been well documented, while college football has remained relatively stable.
That wasn’t the case last weekend however, as a number of games and networks took hits.
One example is the SEC game between Florida and Georgia on CBS on Saturday. The game posted a 2.7 overnight household rating, according to Nielsen, down 21 percent from the same game last year.
That was the lowest rating for the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party since at least 2002, according to Sports Media Watch. That was the last time the game didn’t air on CBS.
Meanwhile, ABC’s Saturday night rivalry game between Clemson and Florida State averaged a 3.6 overnight rating. That’s a solid number but down from a 5.5 last year and the lowest since 2012.
It was also off 8 percent from the Notre Dame-Temple game ABC aired in the same window last season.
And NBC’s coverage of Notre Dame-Miami on Saturday afternoon posted a 1.6 overnight rating, tied for a season low for Notre Dame football on NBC. That’s not particularly surprising, however, considering the Fighting Irish’s subpar season.
ESPN scores with Michigan-Michigan State
It wasn’t all bad news for college football last week, however.
ESPN’s coverage of the rivalry game between Michigan and Michigan State posted a 3.1 overnight rating. That was up 19 percent from a game between Auburn and Mississippi in the same window a year ago.
It was also the second-highest rating of the year on ESPN, behind a 5.3 for Florida State versus Ole Miss on Labor Day.
Tags: cbs, college football, espn, nbc, sports ratings, sports tv, sports tv ratings
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