- ABC’s Best Tripleheader of the Season
- Boston College-Clemson, Notre Dame-Georgia Tech and Ohio State-Penn State Average 4.9 Million Viewers
- Saturday Night Football Aids ABC to ‘Win the Night’ in Primetime
In Week 9, ABC’s Saturday Night Football delivered ESPN’s most-watched game of the season, as an average of 6,534,000 viewers tuned into Ohio State’s 38-25 victory at Penn State. The game ranks as the second-most viewed game across all networks this season and is up 27 percent from ABC’s Saturday Night Football average from 2019. Saturday Night Football helped ABC win the night as the most-viewed network in primetime on Saturday.
In addition, ABC’s tripleheader of Boston College-Clemson, Notre Dame-Georgia Tech and Ohio State-Penn State averaged 4,940,000 viewers on Saturday, with all three games surpassing 3.75 million viewers. Saturday’s trio of games is the most-viewed ABC tripleheader in the regular season since 2019’s Week 9, and all three games marked ABC’s top viewership of the season in their respective windows:
- Noon – Boston College at Clemson (4,376,000 viewers): Won the noon window Saturday, ranking in the top five of noon games on ABC in the regular season since 2017 and is up 49 percent from ABC’s regular season noon window average in 2019.
- 3:30 p.m. – Notre Dame at Georgia Tech (3,770,000 viewers): Most-viewed mid-afternoon game on ABC this season and up 14 percent from the ABC mid-afternoon average in 2019
- 7:30 p.m. – Ohio State at Penn State (6,534,000 viewers): Most-viewed game on ESPN networks this season and up 27 percent from ABC’s SNF average last year.
Ohio Takes Home Top Spots in Local Markets for ABC’s Saturday Night Football
Columbus (38.6) and Cleveland (24.5) were the two highest-rated markets for Ohio State-Penn State, with Dayton (22.0) and Cincinnati (11.1) also reaching double digits Saturday:
| Local Market | Rating |
| Columbus | 36.8 |
| Cleveland | 24.5 |
| Dayton | 22.0 |
| Cincinnati | 11.1 |
| Pittsburgh | 8.7 |
| Philadelphia | 6.2 |
| Indianapolis | 6.0 |
| Greenville | 5.8 |
| Detroit | 5.6 |
| Atlanta | 5.4 |
Minnesota-Maryland Matchup Finds Viewership Highs on Friday Night Lights
Friday’s Minnesota at Maryland overtime showdown on ESPN averaged 1,912,000 viewers, the most-viewed weekday game on ESPN since Sept. 13, 2019 (Washington State at Houston) and up 27 percent from ESPN’s Friday average last season.
Additional college football updates will be forthcoming. Please continue to check @ESPNPR and ESPN Press Room for more information. ESPN’s Week 10 college football schedule and commentator assignments can also be found on ESPN Press Room.
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