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[09/15/09 - 11:54 AM]
Usc at Ohio State: ESPN's Most-Viewed College Football Game Ever; ESPN No. 1 Television Network for the Night
ESPN spins the numbers for Saturday, September 12.

[via press release from ESPN]

USC at Ohio State: ESPN'S Most-Viewed College Football Game Ever; ESPN No. 1 Television Network for the Night

Record Breaking Day for ESPN360.com; ESPN.com and ESPN Mobile Post Significant Traffic Increases

ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and College GameDay Continue to Experience Audience Growth Over Last Year

ESPN's Saturday night telecast of USC defeating Ohio State 18-15 averaged 7,243,000 households, 10,586,000 total viewers and a 7.3 rating, making it the network's most-viewed college football game � covering both regular-season and bowl games. The telecast was the highest-rated program of the night among households, total viewers and in every key male and adult demographic, making ESPN the number one television network � cable or broadcast � for the evening. The 7.3 rating is the highest for a college football game � regular-season and bowl games -- in 15 years (Florida State at Miami averaged a 7.7 on October 8, 1994).

Combined with last week's Labor Day telecast of Miami at Florida State, this season ESPN has already scored two of its three most-viewed college football games ever. The second and third most-viewed games both feature Miami vs. Florida State and occurred on Labor Day:

September 4, 2006: 6,330,000 households, 9,120,000 total viewers and a 6.9 rating

September 7, 2009: 5,820,000 households, 8,406,000 total viewers and a 5.9 rating

ESPN360.com

Saturday was a record-breaking day for ESPN360.com, with the signature broadband network recording its highest total of unique viewers and most total hours of viewing ever in a single day, up 347% and 461%, respectively, compared to the same day last year. The ESPN360.com simulcast of USC at Ohio State was the most-viewed college football game on ESPN360.com in terms of unique viewers while the East Carolina at West Virginia game was the most consumed college football game in terms of total hours viewed. September is already the second-ranked month ever in total hours of viewing for ESPN360.com.

ESPN.com and ESPN Mobile

Saturday also marked huge growth in traffic on the industry-leading ESPN Mobile Web site and on ESPN.com.

ESPN's Mobile Web site had its most-trafficked day ever, up 139% over last year, as well as increases of 189% in visits to college football content and 206% in impressions. USC at Ohio State was the most trafficked game, with nearly eight million page views.

On ESPN.com, visits to college football content increased 20% and page views 73% compared to last year. The College Football section logged more than 24 million page views, making it ESPN.com's most-trafficked section.

Audience Growth for ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 Game Telecasts and College GameDay Continues

Overall college football coverage across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and College GameDay Built by The Home Depot through the second week continues to post audience increases over last year.

ABC is averaging 4,983,000 households, 7,067,000 viewers and a 4.3 rating for increases of 42% (vs. 3,518,000), 51% (vs. 4,682,000) and 39% (vs. 3.1), respectively. ABC averaged 5,970,000 households, 8,391,000 viewers and a 5.2 rating for its telecast of Notre Dame at Michigan Saturday, Sept. 12.

ESPN is averaging 2,744,000 households, 3,787,000 viewers and a 2.8 rating, marking increases of 23% (vs. 2,228,000), 27% (vs. 2,986,000) and 22% (vs. 2.3).

ESPN2 is averaging 1,044,000 households, 1,425,000 viewers and a 1.1 rating for increases of 19% (vs. 879,000), 24% (vs. 1,149,000) and 22% (vs. 0.9).

ESPN's College GameDay is averaging 1,667,000 households, 2,054,000 viewers and a 1.7 rating for increases of 18% (vs. 1,418,000), 21% (vs. 1,695,000) and 13% (vs. 1.5).





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