- 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.
- Week 0
Source: Nielsen Panel + Adobe Analytics for ABC Noon/330/Sunday Primetime
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