- ESPN/ABC: Televised Most-Watched Game This Season and 12 of the Top 15
- ESPN: Aired 18 Most-Viewed Games on Cable, 48 of the Top 50
- ABC’s Saturday Night Football Continues Pace of Being Most-Watched Franchise This Season
- ABC is Most-Viewed Network Through Season’s First Two Months
ABC televised three of the five most-watched games in college football week 9 across all networks, including the second most-watched game of the week as ABC’s Saturday Night Football featuring regional action averaged 3,550,000 viewers (Georgia Tech at Clemson or Texas Tech at Oklahoma). On cable, ESPN’s networks aired the seven most-viewed games and nine of the top 10, led by Wisconsin at Illinois which drew nearly 2 million viewers*.
Setting the Pace: ABC’s Saturday Night Football is Most-Watched Franchise Thus Far; ABC Most-Watched Network
ABC’s Saturday Night Football is on pace to be the most-watched franchise across all networks this season as the prime-time telecast is averaging 6,165,000 viewers through the first nine weeks of the season. SNF’s success has buoyed the success of the entire network, with an average of 4,401,000 viewers tuning in for each game (28 games). As a result, ABC is the most-watched network this college football season, including averaging a 46% higher audience than Fox per game.
ESPN and ABC Networks Air the Most-Watched Games
ABC’s average viewership shows the depth of its schedule, while the network’s highlights include the most-watched game of the year and six of the seven most-watched games. Combined with ESPN, the two networks have aired 12 of the 15 most-watched games. On cable, ESPN’s networks have televised the 18 most-viewed games and 48 of the top 50.
2017 College Football Season: Most-Watched Games
| Rank | Viewership | Game | Network |
| 1 | 12,343,000 | Florida State vs. Alabama | ABC |
| 2 | 9,868,000 | Penn State at Ohio State | FOX |
| 3 | 8,086,000 | Oklahoma at Ohio State | ABC |
| 4 | 7,655,000 | Michigan vs. Florida | ABC |
| 5 | 6,960,000 | Michigan at Penn State | ABC |
| 6 | 6,512,000 | Michigan State at Michigan | ABC |
| 7 | 5,262,000 | Penn State at Iowa | ABC |
| 8 | 5,141,000 | Tennessee vs. Georgia Tech | ESPN |
| 9 | 5,137,000 | Tennessee at Florida | CBS |
| 10 | 5,135,000 | Ohio State at Indiana | ESPN |
| 11 | 5,068,000 | Clemson at Louisville | ABC |
| 12 | 4,914,000 | Texas at USC | FOX |
| 13 | 4,826,000 | Alabama at Texas A&M | ESPN |
| 14 | 4,647,000 | West Virginia vs. Virginia Tech | ABC |
| 15 | 4,615,000 | Clemson at Virginia Tech | ABC |
*Final viewership was 1,927,000 viewers
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Media contact: Derek Volner at 860-384-9986; Derek.Volner@ESPN.com and @DerekVolner