ESPN/ABC College Football Week 7: ESPN's Third-Best Regular Season College Football Saturday

· No. 7 Michigan State at No. 12 Michigan is ESPN's Most-Viewed October College Football Game in More than 20 Years, WatchESPN's Second-Best Regular Season College Football Game Ever

· ESPN/ABC Televises the Three Most-Watched Games Across All Networks

· WatchESPN's Second Best Regular Season College Football Saturday Ever

· 2015 Season: ESPN/ABC - Seven Most-Watched Games Across All Networks, Nine of Top 10

· 2015 Season: WatchESPN Streams Four Best Regular Season College Football Games Ever

In week 7, ESPN televised its third most-watched regular season college football Saturday ever and its best October Saturday ever (dating back to 1994) led by No. 7 Michigan State at No. 12 Michigan (3:30 p.m. ET on ESPN), which averaged 7,398,000 viewers throughout the telecast and 11,549,000 viewers for the game's final play (7:15 p.m. - 7:24 p.m.). The Spartans-Wolverines game was college football's most-watched game last weekend across all networks. Additional superlatives:

· ESPN's most-viewed 3:30 p.m. game ever (records date back to 1990)

· ESPN's most- watched October college football game in more than 20 years and second best overall, trailing only Florida State at Miami on October 8, 1994 (7,677,000 viewers)

· WatchESPN's second-most-streamed regular season college football game ever, with 167,000 average minute impressions on top of the TV audience and a total of 697,000 unique viewers accounting for 39,424,000 minutes viewed

ESPN is No. 1 in Prime Time; WatchESPN Continues to Set Records

No. 8 Florida at No. 6 LSU (7 p.m. on ESPN) was the top prime-time game and second-most-watched college football game of week 7 across all networks, averaging 6,778,000 viewers. Additionally, the matchup was WatchESPN's third-best college football game ever and second-most watched of the week, adding 146,000 average minute impressions on top of the TV audience and a total of 694,000 unique viewers accounting for 32,982,000 minutes viewed.

Record-Setting Saturday

ESPN averaged 3,431,000 viewers on Saturday, Oct. 10, into Sunday, Oct. 11 (6 a.m. to 6 a.m.), making it the third most-watched regular season college football Saturday and the most-watched October Saturday ever (dating back to 1994):

Rank Date Viewers
1. Nov 29, 2014 4,416,000
2. Sept 7, 2013 3,840,000
3. Oct 17, 2015 3,431,000

On WatchESPN, week 7 was the second-most-watched regular season college football Saturday ever:

Rank Date Total Viewers Using WatchESPN Total Minutes Viewed on WatchESPN
1. Sept 12, 2015 2,500,000 210,000,000
2. Oct 17, 2015 2,100,000 190,800,000

Additional Week 7 Highlights:

· ABC Saturday Night Football -- Penn State at No.1 Ohio State (8 p.m.) averaged 5,867,000 viewers, the third-most-watched game of Week 7 across all networks

· Arizona State at No. 4 Utah (10 p.m. on ESPN) -- Averaged 3,059,000 viewers, the most-watched late-night game (10 p.m. or later) of the season across all networks, surpassing No. 23 Cal at No. 5 Utah game (2,820,000 viewers) on ESPN in week 6.

· Louisville at No. 11 Florida State (noon on ESPN) -- Averaged 2,852,000 viewers, up 43% against the comparable window last year (Florida State at Syracuse)

ESPN/ABC Sets the Pace at the Halftime of the 2015 Season:

College football is halfway through the 2015 regular season and ESPN/ABC is setting the pace among all networks:

· ESPN/ABC has televised the top 7 and nine of the 10 most-watched games of the season:

Rank Viewership Date Time (ET) Game Network
1. 10,585,000 Mon, Sept 7 8 p.m. No. 1 Ohio State at Virginia Tech ESPN
2. 7,967,000 Sat, Sept 5 8 p.m. No. 20 Wisconsin vs. No. 3 Alabama ABC
3. 7,898,000 Sat. Sept 12 8 p.m. No. 7 Oregon at No. 5 Michigan State ABC
4. 7,647,000 Sat. Oct 3 8 p.m. No. 6 Notre Dame at No. 12 Clemson ABC
5. 7,605,000 Sat, Sept 19 9:15 p.m. No. 15 Ole Miss at No. 2 Alabama ESPN
6 7,398,000 Sat, Oct 17 3:30 p.m. No. 7 Michigan State at No. 12 Michigan ESPN
7 7,298,000 Sat, Oct 3 3:30 p.m. Regional: No. 1 Ohio State at Indiana or Texas Tech at No. 5 Baylor ABC
8. 7,045,000 Sat, Oct 3 3:30 p.m. No. 13 Alabama at No. 8 Georgia CBS
9 6,777,355 Sat, Oct 17 7 p.m. No. 8 Florida at No. 6 LSU ESPN
10 5,867,000 Sat, Oct 17 8 p.m. Penn State at No. 1 Ohio State ABC

· ESPN networks and ABC combined viewership is up 15% season-to-date:

Year Number of Games Viewership Average
2015 130 1,976,000
2014 125 1,713,000

Through week 7

· WatchESPN has streamed its four best regular season college football games ever:

Rank Average Minute Impressions Game Date
1. 194,000 No. 1 Ohio State at Virginia Tech Sept 7, 2015
2 167,000 No. 7 Michigan State at No. 12 Michigan Oct 17, 2015
3 146,000 No. 8 Florida at No. 6 LSU Oct 17, 2015
4 128,000 No. 15 Ole Miss at No. 2 Alabama Sept 19, 2015

Rank based on average minute impressions