- ABC Airs Three of Four Most-Watched Games; ESPN and ESPN2 Televise 10 Most-Watched Games on Cable
- ABC Sees Audience Increases in All Game Windows
- Season-to-Date: ABC Airs Top 6 Games, ESPN/ABC Nine of Top 10
For the seventh time this season, ABC aired the most-watched college football game of the week, as Saturday Night Football set the pace among all networks. Furthermore, ABC aired three of the four most-watched games of the week and ESPN/ESPN2 televised the 10 most-watched games on cable.
More than 7 Million Viewers for ABC’s Saturday Night Football
ABC’s Saturday Night Football featuring Michigan at Penn State (7:30 p.m.) earned a total live viewership of 7,090,000 viewers, the most-watched college football game of the week across all networks. The Wolverines-Nittany Lions viewership was up 8% from 2016’s week 8 Saturday Night Football game (Ohio State at Penn State) and outdrew the other broadcast networks airing college football in prime time by 137%* and 495%*, respectively.
Audience for Michigan-Penn State among Season’s Best
ABC’s week 8 SNF audience is the network’s second largest since opening weekend and its fourth highest overall this season. Also, Saturday Night Football has been the most-watched franchise this season across all networks, including airing six of the 10 most watched games. Overall, ESPN and ABC have aired the seven most-watched games and nine of the top 10:
| Rank | TV Only Viewership | Game | Network |
| 1. | 12,343,000 | Florida State vs. Alabama | ABC |
| 2. | 8,086,000 | Oklahoma at Ohio State | ABC |
| 3. | 7,655,000 | Michigan vs. Florida | ABC |
| 4. | 6,954,000 | Michigan at Penn State | ABC |
| 5. | 6,512,000 | Michigan State at Michigan | ABC |
| 6. | 5,262,000 | Penn State at Iowa | ABC |
| 7. | 5,141,000 | Tennessee vs. Georgia Tech | ESPN |
| 8. | 5,137,000 | Tennessee at Florida | CBS |
| 9. | 5,135,000 | Ohio State at Indiana | ESPN |
| 10. | 5,068,000 | Clemson at Louisville | ABC |
ABC Draws Nearly 4 Million Viewers in Noon Window; Up Double Digits Year-Over-Year in Both Afternoon Game Windows
Oklahoma State at Texas (noon, ABC) delivered a total live audience of 3,923,000 viewers, up 63% from last season’s comparable game window (NC State at Louisville). It is the second-most watched noon game of the year across all networks, trailing only last week’s Michigan at Indiana game which also aired on ABC. Indiana at Michigan State (3:30 p.m., ABC) delivered a total live audience of 3,547,000 viewers, a 10% increase from last season’s comparable window.
The audience for the Cowboys-Longhorns game outdrew Fox’s game in the same window by 162%, while the Hoosiers-Spartans audience was up 18% from Fox’s late afternoon game.
ESPN and ESPN2 Lead the Way on Cable
ESPN and ESPN2 drew the 10 biggest audiences on cable in week 8, led by Louisville at Florida State at noon (2,580,000 viewers on ESPN) and Syracuse at Miami at 3:30 p.m. (2,093,000 viewers on ESPN).
Season to date, the two networks have aired the 18 most-watched games on cable, and 38 of the top 40.
*TV audience only for competitors
ESPN announced a new reporting system, which began on Sept. 25. More details are here.
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Media contact: Derek Volner at 860-384-9986; Derek.Volner@ESPN.com and @DerekVolner