- ABC: Two of Three Most-Watched Games Across All Networks
- ABC and ESPN: Most-Watched Prime Time Games; Beats Fox by 158% and 84%
- ESPN’s Cable Networks: Top Three Games on Cable, 11 of Top 12
ABC aired two of the three most-watched games in college football’s week 12 and experienced viewership growth in all three game windows. As a result of the individual game window growth, the network’s audience was up 26% compared to week 12 in 2016. On ESPN, the network’s three Saturday games were the most-viewed matchups on cable. Furthermore, combined with ESPN2 and ESPNU, the networks aired 11 of the 12 most-viewed games on cable.
ABC’s Saturday Night Football Propels Network to Win in Key Demos; Noon Window up 85%
ABC’s Saturday Night Football featuring UCLA at USC (8 p.m. ET) delivered a total live audience of 4,130,000 viewers, the most-watched prime time game of the week across all networks and the most-watched channel among people and men 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54 across all networks. The more than 4 million people that tuned in for the Trojans’ victory was up 7% from last year’s week 12 Saturday Night Football game (Oklahoma at West Virginia) and 158% greater than Fox’s viewership in primetime.
Virginia at Miami (noon, ABC) delivered a total live audience of 3,444,000 viewers, up 85% from last year’s comparable window (Wisconsin at Purdue). The come-from-behind victory for the Hurricanes is Miami’s most-viewed non-primetime game this season. Following the Cavaliers-Hurricanes matchup, Illinois at Ohio State (3:30 p.m., ABC) delivered a total live audience of 3,124,000 viewers, up 21% year-over-year (Florida State at Syracuse or Texas at Kansas).
ESPN’s Telecast of LSU at Tennessee Leads the Way on Cable
ESPN’s telecast of LSU at Tennessee (7:15 p.m.) set the pace on cable, as it delivered a Nielsen total live audience of 2,946,000 viewers. The audience was up 38% year-over-year (Clemson at Wake Forest) and also the second most-watched prime time game of the week, beating Fox by 84%.
Earlier in the day, ESPN’s telecast of Oklahoma at Kansas (3:30 p.m.) delivered a Nielsen total live audience of 1,606,000 viewers and Texas at West Virginia (noon) had a Nielsen total live audience of 1,594,000 viewers, the second and third most-watched games on cable in week 12.
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Media contact: Derek Volner at 860-384-9986; Derek.Volner@ESPN.com and @DerekVolner
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