Nielsen’s newest ratings show just how important YouTube TV is for ABC and ESPN’s viewership of college football.
According to Jon Lewis of Sports Media Watch, ABC and ESPN experienced its most-watched week of college football since the start of the season. Nielsen data shows that the ABC averaged 8.2 million viewers for its three games Saturday, with only Week 1’s 8.6 million average viewers beating it this year. In addition, the network reached eight figures for its final two contests, with a 10.48 million average got Oklahoma-Alabama and 10.43 million for Texas-Georgia.
Lewis points out that during ESPN and ABC’s two weeks off YouTube TV, not a single game reached 8 million viewers, with the Florida-Georgia matchup reaching the high-water mark of 7.8 million.
Decision To Show Notre Dame On ABC Helps ESPN’s Ratings
Texas A&M-South Carolina matchup helped ESPN win ratings battle in noon window
The decision to air Notre Dame-Pittsburgh on ABC may have been disappointing (3.96 million average), but giving ESPN the matchup of South Carolina-Texas A&M, proved to be great for the cable network. The Aggies’ comeback from down 30-3 at halftime at home boosted ESPN to 4.28 million average viewers, its most watched Saturday game since Week 3. It also gave ESPN the win in the noon window over Fox.
Both Friday and Saturday night windows were also big wins for ESPN, averaging 2.56 million viewers for Clemson-Louisville and 2.50 for Florida-Ole Miss, respectively. Those numbers also showed a marked rebound from the blackout, though they did still fall short of the viewership numbers from just before the blackout started. ESPN had over 3.4 million viewers in Week 8’s Friday matchup of Louisville-Miami, which saw the Cardinals knock the Hurricanes from the ranks of the unbeaten.
Finally, the return of College Gameday to YouTube TV saw its number bounce almost all the way back to pre-blackout levels, averaging 2.6 million viewers. Those are its highest rating since immediately before the blackout.
