or


[09/02/19 - 06:50 AM]
College Football Kickoff Weekend: Houston-Oklahoma Becomes Second Highest-Rated Game of the Week; ABC has Aired Top 3 Highest-Rated Games
ESPN spins the numbers for Sunday, September 1.

[via press release from ESPN]

College Football Kickoff Weekend: Houston-Oklahoma Becomes Second Highest-Rated Game of the Week; ABC has Aired Top 3 Highest-Rated Games

ABC has now televised the three highest-rated games of the College Football Kickoff Weekend, as the network's Sunday presentation of Houston-Oklahoma (7:30 p.m. ET) surpassed Saturday's ESPN CFB150 Showcase Game between Duke-Alabama (3:30 p.m.) to become the second highest-rated game of the week. The rating for the Cougars-Sooners matchup, which saw Oklahoma jump out to a 21-0 first half lead on their way to a 49-31 victory, trails only ABC Saturday Night Football's Oregon-Auburn matchup (7:30 p.m.), which remains the highest-rated game of the weekend.

ABC's Sunday showdown delivered a 3.6 overnight, peaking at a 4.2 late in the first half (9-9:15 p.m.). Oklahoma City was the No. 1 market, earning 28.0 local rating. Tulsa (25.9), Birmingham (18.7), West Palm Beach (7.7) and Houston (7.5) round out the top five markets.

Rank Game Rating Network
1 Oregon-Auburn 4.4 ABC
2 Houston-Oklahoma 3.6 ABC
3 Duke-Alabama 3.1 ABC

ESPN's five-day Kickoff Weekend slate concludes with the annual Labor Day Night special, featuring No. 9 Notre Dame at Louisville (8 p.m. on ESPN).

ESPN and ABC Televise Four Highest-Rated Games of College Football's Kickoff Weekend; ESPN Networks Finish Five-Day Slate Up 31%

· ABC's Saturday Night Football Sets the Pace among all Networks

· ESPN Airs Top 10 Highest-Rated Games on Cable this Season

ESPN and ABC aired the four highest-rated games during college football's Kickoff Weekend across all networks and, combined with ESPNEWS and ESPNU, delivered a 31% ratings increase over last season's similar Kickoff Weekend. The five-day slate's success was evident among many individual game windows, including the season premiere of ABC's Saturday Night Football featuring Oregon-Auburn, which delivered the sport's highest rating of the weekend and was up 63% year-over-year.

ABC and ESPN: Top Five Highest-Rated Games of the Season

Kickoff Weekend continued ESPN's fast start to the season, which began when ESPN televised Miami-Florida in Week 0 (Aug. 24) and delivered the network's highest-rated college football game since 2016. Inclusive of that game, ESPN and ABC have aired the five highest-rated games of the season and ESPN's networks, overall, have 15 of top 17.

Rank Game Rating Network Date
1 Oregon-Auburn 4.4 ABC Sat, Aug. 31
2 Miami-Florida 4.1 ESPN Sat, Aug. 24
3 Notre Dame-Louisville 3.7 ESPN Mon, Sept. 2
4 Houston-Oklahoma 3.6 ABC Sun, Sept. 1
5 Duke-Alabama 3.1 ABC Sat, Aug. 31

Notre Dame-Louisville Concludes Weekend with Another Top-Rated Game; Adds to ESPN's Cable Supremacy

ESPN's Labor Day telecast featuring Notre Dame at Louisville (8 p.m. ET) delivered a 3.7 overnight, making it the second highest-rated game of Kickoff Weekend across any network and the third highest-rated game of the season. With the Week 0 and Labor Day overnight ratings leading the way, ESPN and ESPNEWS have combined to air the top 11 highest-rated games on cable through Kickoff Weekend. Additional Irish-Cardinals highlights:

· The 3.7 rating was in line with last season's Labor Day telecast featuring Virginia Tech-Florida State (3.8 overnight).

· The overnight peaked throughout the first half, consistently landing at a 4.4 from 9 p.m. to 9:45 p.m. before the Irish took a 21-14 lead and never trailed again.

· Louisville was the No. 1 local market, earning a 16.6 local rating. The remaining top markets: Rank Market Rating
1 Louisville 16.6
2 Birmingham 11.2
3 New Orleans 7.3
4 Indianapolis 7.0
5 Jacksonville 6.8

Additional Kickoff Week Highlights

· Besting the Competition: ESPN's networks had the highest-rated game in nearly every game window:

· Thursday: Two highest-rated games on August 29

· Friday: Two highest-rated games on August 30

· Saturday: Highest-rated late afternoon and top three highest-rated night games on August 31

· Starting Saturday Strong:

· ESPN's networks, cumulatively, were the highest-rated networks among any media company in the noon game window on Saturday, Aug. 31. In that window, ESPN's networks combined to deliver a 3.4 overnight across its four games.

· College GameDay Built by the Home Depot (9 a.m.-noon) delivered a 1.4 overnight (ESPN and ESPNU), including a 1.6 for its final hour on ESPN only.

Numbers included all based on Nielsen overnights; Additional final viewership elements will be available this week





  [september 2019]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S


· SATURDAY NIGHT COLLEGE FOOTBALL (ABC)





most recent ratings | view all posts
[10/03/25 - 02:17 PM]
ESPN's Record-Setting '25 MLB Wild Card Series
Across eight games, the MLB Wild Card Series is averaging 4.4 million viewers, up 65% from last year.

[10/03/25 - 12:07 PM]
"Dancing with the Stars" Continues to Shatter Records - Growing Two Weeks in a Row Since Season Premiere for First Time Since 2005
Plus: "High Potential" hit a season high in Total Viewers (4.24 million), growing by double digits over the show's comparable third episode from last fall.

[10/02/25 - 04:09 PM]
ESPN Delivers the Most-Watched WNBA Semifinals Ever
Game 5 between the Indiana Fever and the Las Vegas Aces averaged 1.8 million viewers, peaking at 2.1 million.

[10/02/25 - 02:51 PM]
ESPN's Record-Setting Day One of MLB Wild Card Series
Coverage of Red Sox versus Yankees averaged 6.5 million viewers, peaking at 9.9 million.

[10/02/25 - 11:00 AM]
"Survivor" and "The Amazing Race" Season Premieres Hit Their Largest 3-Day Streaming Viewerships Ever
The "Survivor" season 49 premiere grew to 6.83 million viewers with three days of multiplatform viewership; while "The Amazing Race" season 38 premiere grew to 4.01 million viewers.

[10/02/25 - 09:38 AM]
"Celebrity Wheel of Fortune" Scores on Friday Nights with Biggest Total Viewer Audience in Nearly Two Years
"Celebrity Wheel of Fortune" stood as the No. 1 program of the night, rising by double digits in Total Viewers over its previous season premiere.

[10/01/25 - 10:27 AM]
"Big Brother" Season Finale Is Most-Watched Episode in Over Three Years
The finale was up +33% from its year ago finale and up +33% from this season's average.

[09/30/25 - 03:44 PM]
ESPN and ABC Win College Football's Week 5; "College GameDay's" Most-Viewed Season Rolls On
ABC is off to its best start ever with 7.1 million average viewers per game, and the network has aired eight of the top 10 most-viewed games this season.

[09/30/25 - 02:08 PM]
Packers-Cowboys OT Thriller Averages 26.9 Million Viewers on NBC & Peacock, As NBC Sports Opens with Best Four-Week Audience Average in 20 Seasons of NBC "SNF"
The audience peaked at 29.9 million viewers in the second quarter (9-9:15 p.m. ET).

[09/30/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10 Week of September 22: "Wayward" Lures Viewers at No. 1, "KPop Demon Hunters" Sets Top 10 Record
New on Netflix this week is "House of Guinness," a historical drama series created by Steven Knight, which debuted at No. 3 on the English TV list with 5.2 million views.

[09/30/25 - 10:24 AM]
"High Potential" Season Premiere Vaults to Nearly 16 Million in First Week Across Platforms
This marks ABC's best season premiere for a drama among Total Viewers in five years.

[09/29/25 - 06:06 AM]
ESPN's 2025 MLB Game Viewership Up 21 Percent from Last Year
Coverage delivered 1.8 million viewers on average across 30 games this season.

[09/26/25 - 01:11 PM]
"Dancing with the Stars" Week Two Delivers Over 5 Million Total Viewers Rising Over Season Premiere for First Time in 14 Years
Once again, the show led its time period and stood as the No. 1 show of the night in Total Viewers (5.46 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.02 rating).

[09/25/25 - 02:05 PM]
Viewers Have Watched More Than 8 Billion Minutes of "Big Brother" This Summer - Up +27% from Last Year
Multiplatform average episode viewership grew to 5.1 million, up +23% versus last year in 35-days of viewing, outpacing the competition.

[09/24/25 - 02:47 PM]
"Jimmy Kimmel Live" Returned on Tuesday to 6.26 Million Total Viewers on Broadcast, According to Initial Live+Same Day Measurement
In addition to linear ratings, the monologue has garnered more than 26 million views across YouTube and social platforms.