or


[12/05/24 - 08:31 AM]
ESPN and ABC Deliver Record-Breaking College Football Viewership in 2024 - ABC Scores Top Two Most-Watched Windows with "ABC Saturday Night Football" More Than Doubling the Competition
ABC reached historic milestones in 2024, with viewers consuming 58 billion minutes of live college football, the most ever for a single network during a regular season.

[via press release from ESPN]

ESPN and ABC Deliver Record-Breaking College Football Viewership in 2024 - ABC Scores Top Two Most-Watched Windows with ABC Saturday Night Football More Than Doubling the Competition

· ESPN Platforms Deliver Best Season Since 2016

· ABC's Most-Watched Season in 15 Years

· Milestone Achievements in Digital and Streaming Engagement

ESPN platforms delivered record-breaking college football viewership in 2024, with ABC owning the season as the No. 1 network for college football, averaging 5.8 million viewers for 46 regular season games, an impressive 56 percent increase year-over-year and ABC's best college football season in 15 years (since 2009). ESPN platforms scored their most-watched season since 2016 with an average of 1.9 million viewers per game across all Nielsen-rated networks (ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU) - a 19 percent increase year-over-year.

ABC is College Football's Top Network

ABC reached historic milestones in 2024, with viewers consuming 58 billion minutes of live college football, the most ever for a single network during a regular season. Additionally, the inaugural season of SEC on ABC was a proven winner, averaging 6.4 million viewers per game, with the top SEC on ABC game each Saturday averaging 7.9 million viewers.

ABC boasts the top two most-watched Saturday windows across all networks and media companies with its primetime and late afternoon windows, outpacing the competition by more than double in primetime and more than 60 percent in the late afternoon. ABC's Saturday Night Football franchise cemented itself as the top window in the sport, averaging 7.4 million viewers, the best for any network since 2008, representing an 89 percent year-over-year increase. The late afternoon window (3:30 p.m. ET) drew 5.9 million viewers, up 49 percent year-over-year to become the second-most-viewed Saturday window in the sport this year. ABC emerged as the most-watched network in college football, drawing 85 percent more viewers than any competitor and nearly matching all other broadcast networks combined in total minutes consumed.

ESPN Networks Welcome Viewers Home

ESPN and ABC demonstrated their leadership as the home of college football by airing the most-watched game in 71 percent of Saturday windows, including 50 percent of noon games, 79 percent of late afternoon games, and 86 percent of primetime games. ESPN and ABC also showcased many of the sport's blockbuster matchups, delivering four of the top five, 15 of the top 20, and 35 of the top 50 most-viewed games this season, including the 19 most-viewed cable games.

Moreover, 10 games across all networks drew more than 9 million viewers, the highest number in nearly three decades. ESPN platforms aired five of these games, marking their strongest showing since 2008. ESPN measured networks were also responsible for 57 percent of college football live game minutes viewed across all Nielsen-rated networks, marking the company's highest share since 2018.

ESPN+ Scores Most-Viewed Season on Record

The season also saw remarkable digital and streaming milestones. ESPN+ recorded its most-watched college football season ever, with viewership up 58 percent and engagement up 231 percent. Engagement with college football content on ESPN Digital also hit a record high, with daily average unique viewers growing by 8 percent year-over-year.

Individual Game Highlights

· ABC's Week 8 Georgia-Texas Showdown: 13.2 million viewers, the most-watched game of the season and the top primetime audience across all networks since 2014 (excluding conference championships). The same two teams will meet in Saturday's SEC Championship Game on ABC.

· Historic Doubleheader: ABC's Week 8 featured two games with 10+ million viewers, a first on one network since 1996 - Georgia-Texas (13.2M) and Alabama-Tennessee (10.8M).

· Rivalries at Their Peak: Clashes like Texas-Texas A&M (9.5M viewers), Georgia-Georgia Tech (8.5M viewers), and Florida-Georgia (7.4M viewers) delivered their largest audiences on record.

· Additional Spotlights

· Week 0
· Florida State-Georgia Tech (5.0M viewers) Aer Lingus Classic in Ireland was the most-watched Week 0 game since 2019 and top game on cable this season.
· ABC's MEAC/SWAC Challenge (1.3M viewers) drew its largest audience ever.

· Week 1
· North Dakota State-Colorado (4.8M viewers) was ESPN's most-watched Thursday opener since 2017.
· USC-LSU (9.2M viewers) was ABC's third best Sunday opener on record.

· Week 5
· Virginia Tech-Miami (3.3M viewers) was ESPN's second most-watched Friday game since 2018.
· ABC's Alabama-Georgia (12.0M viewers) at the time was ESPN platforms' best regular season game since 2017.

· Week 7
· Kansas State-Colorado (3.3M viewers) was the most-watched late night game of the season and third best on any network in more than a decade.

· Week 8
· ABC's Week 8 Alabama-Tennessee (10.8M viewers) was ABC's most-watched late afternoon game since 2015.

· Week 12
· ABC's Tennessee-Georgia (10.0M viewers) is the fifth most-watched game this season.

Source: Nielsen Panel + Adobe Analytics for ABC Noon/3:30/Sunday Primetime

-30-





  [december 2024]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S


· SATURDAY NIGHT COLLEGE FOOTBALL (ABC)





most recent ratings | view all posts
[08/26/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10 Week of August 18: "KPop Demon Hunters" Reigns as Netflix's Most Popular Film, Claims No. 1 in Top 10
"Wednesday" stayed on top of the English TV list for a third week with Wednesday Season 2, Part 1 claiming another 13.4 million views.

[08/26/25 - 08:24 AM]
"Sunday Night Baseball Presented by Capital One": Boston Red Sox vs. New York Yankees Draws ESPN's Second-Largest Audience of MLB Season: 2,572,000 Viewers
The game peaked with 2,889,000 viewers at 8:15 p.m. ET, according to Nielsen.

[08/20/25 - 11:07 AM]
Alicia Silverstone-Led Crime Drama "Irish Blood" Is the Biggest New Series Premiere in Acorn TV History
The August 11 premiere also drove the biggest day of subscriber sign-ups on Acorn TV's direct-to-consumer platforms in nearly two years.

[08/19/25 - 04:03 PM]
FX's "Alien: Earth" Premiere Episode Launches with 9.2 Million Views Globally After Six Days of Streaming
Future episodes of the eight-episode season will premiere each following Tuesday on Hulu beginning at 8 p.m. ET and on FX at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

[08/19/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10 Week of August 11: "Wednesday" Charms at No. 1 For Another Top 10 Week
"Fit for TV: The Reality of the Biggest Loser," a three-part documentary exploring the reality show's biggest scandals, debuted at No. 2 in English TV with 7.5 million views.

[08/19/25 - 10:13 AM]
NBC Sports Delivers Most-Watched Premier League Opening Weekend in U.S., Headlined by Record-Setting Manchester United-Arsenal Match on NBC & Peacock
The Manchester United-Arsenal match on NBC, Peacock, and NBC Sports Digital platforms on Sunday, featuring 2024-25 PL runner-up Arsenal earning a 1-0 victory, averaged 2.0 million viewers.

[08/19/25 - 09:03 AM]
FOX Sports Delivers Network's Most-Watched NFL Preseason Game Since 2021
This past Sunday, 5.1 million viewers tuned in to FOX's preseason coverage of the Chicago Bears 38-0 victory over the Buffalo Bills.

[08/14/25 - 01:33 PM]
With 5 Million Cross-Platform U.S. Viewers in Its First Three Days, Sunday's Season Finale Episode of "The Gilded Age" Is the Fifth Consecutive Episode to Clinch a Series High
This season is well on track to become the most watched of the series.

[08/12/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10 Week of August 4: "Wednesday" Wins the Week - Season 2 Snaps Its Way to No. 1 in Top 10
Like the view from the top of El Capitan, "Untamed" held its place among the metaphorical clouds of the English TV List, now in the No. 3 spot with 7.2 million views.

[08/12/25 - 07:44 AM]
August 10 Edition of ESPN "Sunday Night Baseball Presented by Capital One" Draws Nearly Two Million Viewers for Chicago Cubs vs. St. Louis Cardinals Game
The audience peaked with 2,115,000 viewers at 9:15 p.m. ET.

[08/08/25 - 09:10 AM]
"Live with Kelly and Mark" Notches Summertime Win with Best Total Viewer Audience in Over Three Months
In addition, the show earned its best rating among Households in nine weeks and its best numbers among both Women 18-49 and Women 25-54 in five weeks.

[08/05/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10 Week of July 28: "Happy Gilmore 2" Continues to Swing Big at No. 1 in This Week's Top 10
The Yosemite National Park-set thriller "Untamed" maintained the No. 1 spot on the English TV List for a third week with another 12.2 million views added to its accumulated 59.6 million total.

[08/05/25 - 11:01 AM]
ESPN's "Sunday Night Baseball" Featuring the Detroit Tigers vs. Philadelphia Phillies Averaged 2 Million Viewers - Up 72% from Last Year's Comparable Game
"Sunday Night Baseball" is averaging 1,680,000 million viewers, up seven percent from last year.

[08/05/25 - 10:27 AM]
ABC Airs One of Its Most-Watched WNBA Games This Season
The Indiana Fever's win over the Seattle Storm averaged 1.6 million viewers, peaking with 2.0 million.

[08/01/25 - 01:56 PM]
Matt Damon and Ken Jennings' Million Dollar Win Scores Big in Ratings for "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire"
The series owns ABC's top two entertainment telecasts in Total Viewers summer to date with its week 2 episode (4.46 million) and season premiere (4.24 million).