or


[12/10/14 - 10:02 AM]
ESPN's Record-Setting College Football Coverage Garners Millions of Viewers
ESPN spins the numbers for its coverage to date this season.
[via press release from ESPN]

ESPN's Record-Setting College Football Coverage Garners Millions of Viewers

· ESPN's FBS Telecasts Reach Nearly 200 Million Viewers; WatchESPN Generates More than 1.2 Billion Live Minutes Viewed

· ABC Saturday Night Football Most-Viewed Weekly Prime Series

· Significant Viewership Increases for ESPN on Saturday Nights

· ESPN and ABC Win on Saturday Nights

· Iron Bowl - Record Regular-Season Telecast for ESPN and WatchESPN; Season's Most-Viewed Game on TV

· Birmingham Leads All Markets for 14th Straight Year with 9.2 Metered Market Rating

ESPN's 2014 regular-season college football schedule set an industry record for total game coverage, reaching hundreds of millions of fans across multiple television and digital platforms.

Overall, ESPN, ABC, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNEWS, ESPN3, SEC Network and Longhorn Network covered 453 exclusive regular-season Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) games involving teams from all 10 conferences, plus independents Notre Dame, BYU, Navy and Army. Combined with an extensive schedule of Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) contests, ESPN platforms carried 494 regular-season Division I football games in 2014. Total coverage highlights:

· ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPNEWS combined to televise 272 FBS contests, reaching more than 185,687,000 viewers. If those viewers who watched college football games on an ESPN platform formed a country, it would be the seventh most populous in the world, larger than countries such as Russia, Japan, Mexico, Germany, France, United Kingdom, Italy, Spain and Canada.

· The 272 telecasts averaged 1,767,000 viewers (note: the final audience for ABC's December 6, noon broadcast was not available). ESPN offered games every day of the week, including the opening Sunday of the season, Labor Day, select Tuesday and Wednesday matchups, and a regular schedule of Thursday, Friday and Saturday telecasts.

· The 517 FBS games on WatchESPN - every exclusive contest on an ESPN platform and the GamePlan matchups -- generated 1,200,000,000 live minutes viewed, an 80 percent increase over 2013. Overall, 2014 produced WatchESPN's 10 largest average minute audiences for regular-season college football games ever.

ABC Audience Growth Led by Most-Viewed Weekly Prime Series Saturday Night Football

The weekly series, Saturday Night Football on ABC - the most-viewed and highest-rated weekly college football night game on television - led the network to post a total-season viewership increase over 2013. The 34 windows on ABC averaged 5,106,000 viewers and a 3.2 rating for 7 percent increases in each (vs. 4,778,000 and vs. 3.0) (note: viewership data for ABC's Saturday, Dec. 6, noon telecast was not available at time of release). The weekly prime-time series that features multiple conferences throughout the season also experienced significant audience growth, averaging 6,197,000 viewers and a 3.8 rating for increases of 8 percent (vs. 5,750,000) and 9 percent (vs. 3.5), respectively.

Significant Viewership Increases for ESPN Saturday Nights

In addition to the weekly ABC telecast, ESPN's Saturday night games generated larger audiences than 2013, averaging 4,397,000 viewers for a 24 percent increase (vs. 3,557,000).

Winning Saturday Nights

Saturday night college football telecasts helped ESPN and ABC to finish first or second for the night across all cable and broadcast networks among total viewers on 14 of the season's 15 Saturdays. An ESPN or ABC Saturday prime-time game was the night's most-viewed college football game across all networks televising the sport on 12 of the 15 weeks.

ABC or ESPN was the number one or two network among all key male and adult demographics (18-34, 18-49 and 25-54) every Saturday night except September 6.

Iron Bowl - Record Regular-Season Telecast for ESPN and WatchESPN; Season's Most-Viewed Game on TV

ESPN's Saturday prime time coverage of Alabama's victory over Auburn on November 29 delivered the season's most-viewed game across all networks televising college football and generated television and digital audience records for ESPN and WatchESPN. ESPN's telecast averaged 13,529,000 viewers and a 7.4 rating, making it the network's most-viewed regular-season college football game on record (since 1990), surpassing USC at Ohio State in 2009 (10,586,000 viewers and a 6.3 HH US rating).

The game also garnered 475,000 unique viewers and an average minute audience of 119,000 people on WatchESPN, product records for regular-season action.

Birmingham Leads All Markets for 14th Straight Year with 9.2 Metered Market Rating

Birmingham was the number one metered market for ESPN's college football game telecasts for a 14th consecutive season, averaging a 9.2 rating for ESPN's 74 telecasts. The season was highlighted by a 51.8 rating in Birmingham for the Auburn at Alabama contest, the highest rating for an ESPN regular-season college football game in the market on record (since 2000).

The top four most-viewed metered markets for ESPN's game telecasts in 2013 remained among the top three in 2014: New Orleans at second (4.2 rating) followed by Knoxville and Greenville tied at third (4.1 rating). Three markets that jumped into the top 25 for the season, highlighted by Salt Lake City jumping from 38th to 13th with a 2.6 rating. Portland and Phoenix went from being tied at 27th to 17th (2.4 rating) and 25th (2.1 rating), respectively.

Top 25 Markets for 2014 Top 25 Markets for 2013
No. 1 Birmingham: 9.2 rating No. 1 Birmingham: 9.2 rating
No. 2 New Orleans: 4.2 rating No. 2 Greenville: 4.9 rating
No. 3 Knoxville: 4.1 rating No. 3 Knoxville: 4.4 rating
Greenville: 4.1 rating No. 4 New Orleans: 4.3 rating
No. 5 Memphis: 3.8 rating No. 5 Nashville: 3.3 rating
Atlanta: 3.8 rating Memphis: 3.3 rating
No. 7 Jacksonville: 3.5 rating Columbus: 3.3 rating
No. 8 Oklahoma City: 3.4 rating Jacksonville: 3.3 rating
No. 9 Tulsa: 3.1 rating No. 9 Louisville: 3.2 rating
No. 10 Nashville: 2.9 rating Atlanta: 3.2 rating
Columbus: 2.9 rating No. 11 Charlotte: 2.9 rating
No. 12 Louisville: 2.7 rating No. 12 Oklahoma City: 2.8 rating
No. 13 Richmond: 2.6 rating No. 13 Orlando: 2.7 rating
Salt Lake City: 2.6 rating No. 14 Tulsa: 2.6 rating
No. 15 Charlotte: 2.5 rating Tampa-St. Petersburg: 2.6 rating
Austin: 2.5 rating No. 16 Austin: 2.5 rating
No. 17 Portland: 2.4 rating West Palm Beach: 2.5 rating
Orlando: 2.4 rating No. 18 Kansas City: 2.4 rating
Las Vegas: 2.4 rating Norfolk: 2.4 rating
West Palm Beach: 2.4 rating No. 20 Dayton: 2.3 rating
No. 21 Norfolk: 2.3 rating No. 21 Greensboro: 2.2 rating
Dayton: 2.3 rating No. 22 Raleigh-Durham: 2.2 rating
Greensboro: 2.3 rating Richmond: 2.2 rating
No. 24 Raleigh-Durham: 2.2 rating No. 24 Ft. Myers: 2.1 rating
No. 25 Tampa-St. Petersburg: 2.1 rating No. 25 Dallas-Ft. Worth: 2.0 rating
Phoenix: 2.1 rating Las Vegas: 2.0 rating





  [december 2014]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
 


· SATURDAY NIGHT COLLEGE FOOTBALL (ABC)
· THURSDAY NIGHT COLLEGE FOOTBALL (ESPN)




most recent ratings | view all posts
[07/01/24 - 02:41 PM]
Simone Biles Stars at U.S. Gymnastics Trials on NBC & Peacock in Most-Watched Olympic Trials Telecast Since 2016
Last night's audience peaked at 8.2 million viewers from 10-10:15 p.m. ET as the gymnasts completed their final rotations.

[06/28/24 - 01:01 PM]
ABC News' Special Coverage of the CNN Presidential Debate Wins Across the Board, Outdelivering Broadcast Networks by Double Digits
For the 4th straight presidential debate, ABC News was the most-watched broadcast network.
[06/28/24 - 12:38 PM]
"When Calls the Heart" Season 11 Closes as #1 Most-Watched Original Program on Entertainment Cable
What's more, the series was the #1 most-watched entertainment cable program every Sunday for 12 straight weeks with key demos.
[06/25/24 - 03:54 PM]
ESPN Delivers the Second Most-Watched Men's College World Series Finals on Record; Game 3 Second Most-Watched College Baseball Game on ESPN Platforms on Record
The 2024 Men's College World Series Finals averaged 2.82 million viewers across ESPN, ABC & ESPNU, the second most-watched on ESPN platforms on record.
[06/25/24 - 03:45 PM]
ABC News' "Nightline" Ranks No. 1 in Total Viewers vs. CBS' "After Midnight" and NBC's "Late Night with Seth Meyers" for 5th Consecutive Week
Season to date, "Nightline" is growing versus the comparable weeks last season in Total Viewers (+1% - 910,000 vs. 901,000), posting its largest overall audience in 3 years - since the 2020-2021 season.
[06/25/24 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10 Week of June 17: "Trigger Warning" Debuts at #1
Esteemed members of the Ton put their differences aside to help Season 3 of Shonda Rhimes' "Bridgerton" hold strong at #1 on the English TV List with 16.5M views.
[06/25/24 - 10:59 AM]
Sunday's Star-Studded Show on NBC & Peacock Marks Most-Watched Night of U.S. Track & Field Trials Since 2012
Highlighted by Noah Lyles' 9.83-second victory in the 100-meter final, 16-year-old Quincy Wilson's performance in the 400-meter semifinals, and commentary from Snoop Dogg, Sunday's show (8:37-11 p.m. ET), averaged 5.2 million viewers across NBC and Peacock.
[06/18/24 - 03:31 PM]
"Tamron Hall" Increases Week to Week in Households, Total Viewers and Women 25-54
For the week, "Tamron Hall" ranked as the No. 3 program among the syndicated talk shows in Women 18-49 and Women 25-54.
[06/18/24 - 03:21 PM]
"Jimmy Kimmel Live" Surges to a 5-Month High in Adults 18-49
For the week, "Jimmy Kimmel Live" ranked 31% ahead of "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" and 62% ahead of "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon."
[06/18/24 - 02:41 PM]
ABC's Exclusive Coverage of Boston Celtics Record-Setting NBA Finals Victory Wins Night Across All of Television and in All Key Demographics
NBA Finals Game 5 averaged 12,224,000 viewers and peaked with 13,280,000 viewers.
[06/18/24 - 01:31 PM]
"Power Book II: Ghost" Season 4 Part One Delivers Over 6.5 Million Multiplatform Viewers in Its Premiere Week Becoming One of Network's Biggest Premieres Ever
Additionally, the "Power" Universe series have now amassed a staggering 1.5 billion hours watched globally to date.
[06/18/24 - 01:02 PM]
ABC News' "Nightline" Ranks No. 1 in All Key Target Demos vs. CBS' "After Midnight" and NBC's "Late Night with Seth Meyers," Leading in Overall Viewers for 4th Consecutive Week
Season to date, "Nightline" is growing versus the comparable weeks last season in Total Viewers, posting its largest overall audience in 3 years.
[06/18/24 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10 Week of June 10: "Bridgerton" Shines at #1; "Under Paris" Enters Most Popular
The third and final season of the fantasy adventure series "Sweet Tooth" moved up the list ranking in second place (6M views) and Season 2 of the reality dating competition series "Perfect Match" made some (potentially questionable) moves to take third place (5.1M views).
[06/18/24 - 08:09 AM]
ESPN "Sunday Night Baseball Presented by Capital One" Draws More Than Two Million Viewers for Second Consecutive Week
ESPN's exclusive coverage of the Boston Red Sox decisive 9-3 victory over their longtime rivals the New York Yankees on June 16 averaged 2,070,000 viewers, peaking with 2,532,000 viewers at 9:15 p.m. ET, according to Nielsen.
[06/15/24 - 03:40 PM]
NBC Sports Delivers Most-Watched U.S. Open Second Round Since 2012
Friday's second round broadcast window on NBC and Peacock (1-7 p.m. ET) produced a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 2.38 million viewers, up 18% vs. 2023 and up 54% vs. 2022.