or


[10/05/16 - 07:55 AM]
ABC's "Saturday Night Football" Is Most-Watched College Football Franchise This Season on Any Network
ESPN spins the numbers for the season to date.
[via press release from ESPN]

ABC's Saturday Night Football is Most-Watched College Football Franchise This Season on Any Network

· SNF Franchise is Up on TV, Streaming Audience Continues to Grow; ABC Up Significantly Year Over Year

· Week 5: Louisville at Clemson is Most-Watched, Most-Streamed Saturday Game of the Season

Through college football's first five weeks, ABC's Saturday Night Football is averaging a total live audience (TV + Streaming) of 6,201,000 viewers, the most-watched college football franchise on any network. The television audience is averaging 6,100,000 viewers a game, 28% better than the next best window on any other network and up 3% from the first five weeks of ABC's Saturday Night Football last season. The franchise's streaming audience has garnered 101,000 average minute viewers per game, up 84% year over year.

Accounting for all ABC games (16 games), the network's total live audience is 5,760,000 viewers per game, college football's most-watched network. The television audience (5,659,000 viewers) and streaming audience (101,000 viewers) is up 16% and 90%, respectively, year over year.

Louisville-Clemson Delivers Large Audience

In week 5, ABC's Saturday Night Football featured the season's first top 5 matchup - No. 3 Louisville at No. 5 Clemson (8 p.m.). The much-anticipated, ACC showdown generated a total live audience of 9,494,000 viewers, the most-watched Saturday college football game of the season across all networks. ABC's TV audience of 9,294,000 viewers is the third most-watched October Saturday Night Football game ever (34 games).

Rank TV Viewers Game Date
1 13,251,000 Notre Dame at Florida State October 18, 2014
2 10,367,000 Penn State at Ohio State October 25, 2008
3 9,294,000 Louisville at Clemson October 1, 2016

Saturday Night Football dates back to 2006

The stream of the Tigers' 42-36 victory generated an average minute audience of 200,000 viewers with 812,000 unique viewers watching a total of 51,107,000 minutes, making it the second-most streamed regular season college football game ever for ESPN.

Additional Louisville at Clemson Highlights:

· ABC Wins the Night: ABC was the most-watched network in prime time across all broadcast and cable in all key demographics - households, persons 2+, men 18-34, men 18-49, men 25-54, persons 18-34, persons 18-49, and persons 25-54 while ESPN ranked No. 2 (Kentucky at Alabama and Arizona at UCLA) among men 18-34, men 18-49, men 25-54, persons 18-34, and persons 18-49.

· Year Over Year Increase: The Cardinals-Tigers' total live audience (9,494,000 viewers) was up 23% from Notre Dame at Clemson (7,718,000 viewers), last season's week 5 Saturday Night Football game.

· Record Setting Louisville Game: ABC's TV audience was the best ever for a Louisville football regular season game on any ESPN network, surpassing the previous high -- West Virginia at Louisville on Nov. 2, 2006 on ESPN -- by 45% (6,395,000 viewers).

Additional Week 5 Highlights:

· Wisconsin at Michigan (3:30 p.m. on ABC) delivered a total live audience of 6,990,000 viewers, week 5's second-most watched game across all networks and one of the most-watched games of the season.

· Stanford at Washington (Friday, Sept. 30, at 8 p.m. on ESPN) delivered a total live audience of 3,424,000 viewers, the second-most watched Friday game on ESPN on record*, trailing only Boise State at Michigan State from week 1 in 2012 (non-thanksgiving day weekend).

· Texas at Oklahoma State (noon on ABC) with a total live audience of 3,852,000 viewers was up 38% year over year to the comparable game window (Texas at TCU).

ESPN/ABC Set the Pace Across All Networks; ESPN Streaming Usage Increase Continues

Through week 5, ESPN/ABC has combined to televise the three most-watched college football games across all networks and seven of the top 8.

Rank TV Viewership Game Date Network
1 10,945,000 Notre Dame at Texas Sept. 4, 2016 ABC
2 9,294,000 Louisville at Clemson Oct. 1, 2016 ABC
3 8,354,000 Ole Miss vs. Florida State Sept. 5, 2016 ESPN
4 8,169,000 Alabama at Ole Miss Sept. 17, 2016 CBS
5 7,944,000 USC vs. Alabama Sept. 3, 2016 ABC
6 7,832,000 LSU vs. Wisconsin Sept. 3, 2016 ABC
7 6,851,000 Wisconsin at Michigan Oct. 1, 2016 ABC
8 6,216,000 Florida State at Louisville Sept. 17, 2016 ABC

Additionally, this year's three most-watched college football games -- Ole Miss-Florida State, Louisville-Clemson, and Notre Dame-Texas -- represent the three most streamed regular season college football games ever for ESPN.

Game Date Average Minute Audience (Rank) Unique Viewers (Rank) Total Minutes Viewed (Rank)
Ole Miss vs. Florida State Sept. 5, 2016 231,000 viewers (1st) 854,000 (1st) 59,700,000 (1st)
Louisville at Clemson Oct. 1, 2016 200,000 viewers (2nd) 812,000 (2nd) 51,100,000 (2nd)
Notre Dame at Texas Sept. 4, 2016 194,000 viewers (3rd) 786,000 (3rd) 49,900,000 (3rd)

*Records date back to 1990





  [october 2016]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
      


· SATURDAY NIGHT COLLEGE FOOTBALL (ABC)




most recent ratings | view all posts
[04/10/25 - 09:45 AM]
Paramount+'s New Hit "MobLand" Surges with 8.8 Million Global Viewers; Biggest Series Launch Ever on the Service Up +298% from Premiere Day
The new global crime series premiered Sunday, March 30, exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Australia and will be coming to other P+ international markets soon.
[04/09/25 - 11:31 AM]
ESPN Wraps Up Successful 2024-25 Women's College Basketball Campaign
The national title bout between No. 2 UConn and No. 1 South Carolina scored 8.6 million viewers, the third most-viewed women's college basketball championship game on ESPN platforms and up 76% from the last time the teams played for the title in 2022.
[04/08/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10 Week of March 31: "Adolescence" Leads Top 10 Charts Again, Jumps to No. 4 on Most Popular
Documentary series "Gone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killer," from two-time Academy Award-nominated and Emmy-winning director Liz Garbus, also made a strong debut, arriving at No. 2 on the English TV list with 13 million views in its first week.
[04/07/25 - 02:20 PM]
ABC Scores Third Most-Watched NCAA Women's Championship Ever on ESPN Platforms
The telecast averaged 8.5 million viewers and peaked at 9.8 million viewers.
[04/07/25 - 11:56 AM]
"The White Lotus" Finale Episode Draws 6.2 Million U.S. Sunday Night Viewers, Breaking Viewership Records for Third Consecutive Week
Sunday's season finale episode performed an astounding 51% higher than the Season 2 finale (4.1 million U.S. viewers).

[04/04/25 - 07:01 AM]
Paramount+'s New Series "MobLand" Breaks Record as Biggest Global Series Premiere Ever with 2.2 Million Global Viewers on Premiere Day
"'MobLand' is a runaway success thanks to the visionary work of Guy, Jez, Ronan and David Glasser and brought to life by the exceptional Tom Hardy, Pierce Brosnan and Helen Mirren who transport us into a world audiences clearly cannot get enough of," said Chris McCarthy.
[04/02/25 - 10:49 AM]
"The Rookie" Shoots to Multiplatform Season Highs in Both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49
On linear, "The Rookie" was the No. 1 program of the night among Adults 18-49 (0.48 - tied), and helped propel ABC to a win the night in both Total Viewers (4.68 million) and Adults 18-49 (0.39 rating).

[04/01/25 - 03:01 PM]
ABC News' "Nightline" Ranks No. 1 in Total Viewers and Adults 25-54 vs. CBS' "After Midnight" and NBC's "Late Night with Seth Meyers"
"Nightline" saw double-digit increases on the previous week in Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49.
[04/01/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10 Week of March 24: "Adolescence" Drives the Conversation with Another Week at No. 1
Plus, fans were determined to crack the case in "The Residence," the Uzo Aduba-starring whodunit, which held strong at No. 2 in English TV (8.8 million views).
[04/01/25 - 10:30 AM]
10 CBS Series Deliver 10 Million or More Viewers in Live+35 Multiplatform Viewing
Three other series generated nearly 8 million or more viewers with 35 days of multiplatform viewership.
[03/31/25 - 11:03 AM]
"When Calls the Heart" Wraps Season 12 as #1 Most-Watched Program on Entertainment Cable This Year To-Date
"'When Calls the Heart' delivers the charm, warmth, and community of Hallmark's signature storytelling, and we're pleased that the series continues to drive stellar ratings after 12 seasons and counting," said Samantha DiPippo.
[03/28/25 - 02:26 PM]
Universal Pictures' Global Cinematic Event "Wicked" Debuts as Streaming's #1 Film
Per preliminary Nielsen data, "Wicked" is the #1 film across all of streaming with 882 million minutes viewed for the week of March 17-23.

[03/28/25 - 02:22 PM]
ESPN's Exclusive Coverage of Milwaukee Brewers vs. New York Yankees Game on March 27 Generated Largest National Opening Day Audience in Seven Years
The Brewers vs. Yankees game averaged 1.93 million viewers, peaking with 2.23 million viewers.
[03/27/25 - 11:00 AM]
"Survivor" Hits Broadcast and Live Streaming Season Highs
The telecast averaged 4.50 million broadcast viewers up +7% from its season-to-date average, and up +13% from its season-to-date average live streaming on Paramount+.
[03/25/25 - 03:24 PM]
ESPN Platforms Scores Second Most-Watched First and Second Rounds of the NCAA Women's Tournament on Record
Through two rounds, the 2025 Women's Division I Basketball Tournament is averaging 602,000 viewers, the second-highest audience through this point since 2009.