College football drives weekend ratings

A hot weekend of college football proved a boon for the primary networks. CBS Sports saw its Alabama/Ole Miss battle on Saturday generate an average overnight score of 5.4/12 for the SEC on CBS to mark the highest-rated daytime game and second highest-rated overall of the 2016 college football season. The matchup’s Nielsen numbers were up 100% over last year’s equivalent in metered markets.

College football’s first top 10 matchup of the season saw a Louisville blowout over Florida State to mark a 4.5 overnight score on ABC. In addition, ESPN’s stream of the Cardinals’ win had an average minute audience of 158,000 viewers and a total of 679,000 unique viewers, becoming a top 5 streamed regular season game ever for ESPN. Additional highlights: The company states that the 4.5 overnight number marks the second-best September noon kickoff game on ESPN’s networks on record and the best in 11 years.

Around the dial, NBC Sports is reporting a 3.22/6 for the Michigan State/Notre Dame upset. That number marks the highest rating for a ND football game on the channel since Michigan State/Notre Dame in 2013. Top markets were: Detroit 16.0/28; Indianapolis 9.78/18; Columbus 6.5/11; Cincinnati 5.7/11; Chicago 5.5/11; and Ft. Myers 5.5/11.

FOX Sports took home the title for its primetime telecast of Ohio State and Oklahoma, which notched a 3.8/8 in overnight numbers. That ranks as the top primetime college football telecast for the evening.

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