or


[11/16/21 - 12:50 PM]
Michigan at Penn State Tops Week 11 College Football Viewership, ABC's Most-Watched November Saturday Since 2016
ESPN platforms were responsible for 64% of the minutes watched in Week 11 and aired four of the top six most-watched games on Saturday.
[via press release from ESPN]

Michigan at Penn State Tops Week 11 College Football Viewership, ABC's Most-Watched November Saturday Since 2016

ESPN networks secured a strong Saturday showing in Week 11, as ABC/ESPN registered multi-year viewership highs and several marquee matchups set the stage for a primetime sweep.

ESPN leaned into a strong Big Ten doubleheader and a top 15 matchup in the SEC to deliver its most-viewed week of the year. Overall, viewers watched 5.3 billion minutes of live games on Saturday, making it the most-watched day of the college football season across ESPN networks. ESPN platforms were responsible for 64% of the minutes watched in Week 11 and aired four of the top six most-watched games on Saturday.

Michigan at Penn State (noon ET, ABC) was the most-viewed game of Week 11 across all networks with 5,942,000 viewers. It ranks as ABC's most-viewed noon or afternoon game of the season and fifth-best game overall. The audience for Wolverines-Nittany Lions peaked with 8.7 million viewers as Michigan edged Penn State for the win.

ABC's B1G Saturday aided the network in airing its most-viewed November Saturday of games since 2016. The 3:30 p.m. matchup of Purdue and Ohio State recorded 4,739,000 viewers on ABC, ESPN networks' most-viewed game in the afternoon window since Week 1. Across the trio of matchups, ABC averaged 4,701,000 viewers, its most-viewed tripleheader since Week 1 and most-watched November Saturday since Nov. 26, 2016.

ESPN/ABC Reign Supreme in Primetime

Texas A&M at Ole Miss (3.5 million viewers, ESPN) and Notre Dame at Virginia (3.3 million viewers, ABC) helped ESPN and ABC rank as the top two networks in primetime among all viewers and all key male and adult demos for a second consecutive week. In the average minute, 7.6 million viewers and 2.4 million P18-49 viewers were watching college football on ESPN networks from 8-11 p.m.

CFB Viewership Continues to Experience Exponential Year-Over-Year Growth

For the second straight week, viewership across ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 is up at least double digits from Week 11 in 2020 and 2019. ABC aired its most-viewed Week 11 since 2016 and was up 13 percent from the same week in 2020 and 20 percent from 2019. ESPN was up more than 50 percent from both 2020 (50 percent) and 2019 (57 percent), while ESPN2 was up 91 percent from the same week in 2020 and up 32 percent from 2019. ABC and ESPN both posted audiences above their season averages.

Additional Viewership Highlights:

· Washington State at Oregon (1,991,000 viewers, ESPN): Most-viewed game starting after 10 p.m. on any network since Sept. 8, 2018 (Michigan State-Arizona State)

· North Carolina at Pittsburgh (1,213,000 viewers, ESPN): ESPN's second-best Thursday game this year

· Kansas at Texas (487,000 viewers, ESPNU): Most-viewed game of the year on ESPNU. Kansas has now participated in the top game on ESPNU in 2021, the second-most-watched game on ESPN2 and third-ranked noon/afternoon game on ESPN

College GameDay's Return Trip to The Grove Garners Second-Best Viewership of 2021

College GameDay Built by The Home Depot's trip to The Grove at Ole Miss registered 1,962,000 viewers, making it GameDay's second-most-watched telecast of the season. College GameDay remains tops among Saturday morning college football pregame shows, and 2,460,000 viewers tuned in for the final hour. The show is up 44 percent from 2020's Week 11 show, which was GameDay's once-in-a-lifetime telecast from The Masters.

- 30 -





  [november 2021]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
 


· SATURDAY NIGHT COLLEGE FOOTBALL (ABC)




most recent ratings | view all posts
[10/31/26 - 10:48 AM]
USA Sports Delivers 1.5 Million Viewers for Valkyries-Dream Game 6 Thursday Matinee
USA Sports' Game 6 coverage delivered the fifth most-watched WNBA Finals game on cable on record.
[10/30/26 - 08:57 AM]
ABC News Wins Across Friday Night, Sunday Morning and Late-Night
"20/20: Help Dale Find Dee" ranked as Friday's No. 1 newsmagazine in Total Viewers, Adults 25-54, and Adults 18-49.
[10/29/26 - 03:25 PM]
Champions at Last: 14.2 Million Viewers Projected for FOX Sports' Coverage of Milwaukee Brewers World Series Clinch
13,476,000 viewers tuned in for World Series Game 4 presented by Capital One across FOX and FOX Deportes.
[10/29/26 - 12:21 PM]
ABC Thursday Returns Strong with "9-1-1" and "9-1-1: Nashville" Rising Over Previous Season Averages
The Season 10 debut of "9-1-1" (8 p.m.) earned 8.14 million Total Viewers after seven days of viewing on ABC, Hulu, Hulu on Disney+ and digital platforms, based on Nielsen's competitive multiplatform measurement.

[10/28/26 - 03:31 PM]
Cowboys-Eagles on "Monday Night Football" Delivers 18.8M Viewers
Seven weeks into ESPN's Super Bowl LXI season, "Monday Night Football" is up 26% compared to the same point in 2025, averaging 19M viewers.
[10/28/26 - 11:30 AM]
"The Drew Barrymore Show" Hits All-Time Series High
This season to date, "The Drew Barrymore Show" averaged 1.90 million total viewers, up +36% year over year.
[10/28/26 - 11:01 AM]
Top 10 Most-Watched Prime Original Films & Series for the Week of October 19
"The Terminal List," "Carrie," "Reacher," "Neagley," and "Off Campus" led all original series worldwide.
[10/27/26 - 03:36 PM]
College Football on FOX Scores Big Numbers in Week 8
7,015,000 viewers tuned into FOX "Big Noon Saturday" for Indiana's win over Michigan.
[10/27/26 - 03:14 PM]
FOX's "America's Game of the Week" Roars with 24,670,000 Viewers in Week 7
The network's Sunday window ranks as the #1 program in all of television through the first seven weeks of the season (24,749,000 average).
[10/27/26 - 03:10 PM]
NFL's First-Ever Paris Game Draws 7.7M Viewers, Concluding Strong October for NFL Network
NFL Network's October International Series slate is averaging 7.1M viewers, up 18% vs. the network's overall six-game International Series average last season.
[10/27/26 - 03:03 PM]
No Time Like October: FOX Sports Drives in 12,259,000 Viewers for Game 1 and 10,854,000 Viewers for Game 2
Both telecasts were the most-watched of their respective days on any network.
[10/27/26 - 02:59 PM]
NBC and Peacock Deliver Most-Watched WNBA Finals Game 4 Ever
Led by Gabby Williams' 17 points, Golden State's 67-62 win over Atlanta peaked at 2.5 million viewers for the game's exciting conclusion from 3:30-3:45 p.m. ET.
[10/27/26 - 02:40 PM]
"College GameDay Built by The Home Depot" Continues Record-Setting Season; ESPN Networks Deliver Three of the Top Five Games Across All Nets
Ole Miss/Texas (8.1 million) was the top game of the week and added to ESPN's nine total games this season with 8+ million viewers.
[10/27/26 - 02:06 PM]
Chiefs-Seahawks Is Most Watched Week 7 NBC "Sunday Night Football" Game Since 2013, Averaging 26.3 Million Viewers on NBC & Peacock
The audience peaked at 29.0 million viewers on NBC and Peacock in the second quarter (9:30-9:45 p.m. ET).
[10/27/26 - 01:01 PM]
"Crystal Lake" Makes Killer Debut on Peacock
"Crystal Lake" has generated 1.3 billion minutes watched over its first 11 days, making it the fourth highest scripted original series ever on Peacock.