College Football Week 7: ABC's "Saturday Night Football" Up an Impressive 57% Year-Over-Year; ABC/ESPN Air Three of the Four Highest-Rated College Football Games on Any Network

· ABC and ESPN Air Two Highest-Rated College Football Games in Primetime; Sixth Straight Saturday ABC/ESPN Televise the Sport's Highest-Rated Primetime Game Across All Networks

· ESPN Grows Ratings in Multiple Key Game Windows

· Detroit and Columbus Were Highest-Rated Local Markets for Michigan-Wisconsin

ABC's Saturday Night Football featuring Wisconsin at Michigan (7:30 p.m. ET) delivered a 3.6 overnight rating, leading the way for ABC/ESPN in week 7 and generating a 57% year-over-year rating increase for the sport's signature franchise. Across all networks, ESPN/ABC combined to air three of the four highest-rated college football games of the week, including the two highest-rated primetime games. Overall, this marks the sixth straight Saturday that the highest-rated primetime game aired on either ESPN/ABC.

Missouri-Alabama Delivers Rating Increase for ESPN, Ties as Network's Highest-Rated Crimson Tide Game of '18

ESPN also delivered significant ratings in primetime as Missouri-Alabama (7 p.m.) delivered a 2.2 overnight, besting the network's cable competition by 266%. Year-over-year, ESPN grew its own ratings by 5%, as last season, the same game window also featured Alabama, with the Crimson Tide taking on Arkansas. This season, the overnight for the Crimson Tide victory ties as ESPN's highest-rated Alabama game of the year, equaling the Ole Miss game (Sept. 15) and besting two other games on ESPN/ESPN2 - vs. Arkansas State (Sept. 8) and at Arkansas (Oct. 6).

Detroit Market Leads the Way for ABC's Saturday Night Football; Columbus was Second Highest Rated

Detroit was the highest-rated local market for ABC's Saturday Night Football, with an 18.1 rating followed by Columbus (15.9) and Milwaukee (13.7). The complete top 10:

Rank Local Rating Market
1 18.1 Detroit
2 15.9 Columbus
3 13.7 Milwaukee
4 9.0 Dayton
5 7.8 Cleveland
6 6.2 Cincinnati
7 5.6 Minneapolis
5.6 Portland
9 5.1 Memphis
10 4.6 Oklahoma City

ESPN Grows Ratings in Multiple Game Windows in Week 7; Florida-Vanderbilt Ties as Highest-Rated Noon Game Window

ESPN's telecast of Florida and Vanderbilt (noon) delivered a 1.8 overnight, with the Gators' come-from-behind victory generating a 6% ratings increase from last year's same game window which also featured an SEC East clash (South Carolina at Tennessee). The overnight tied as the highest-rated college football game on any network in that time slot in week 7.

Regional Action in Late Afternoon Propels ABC/ESPN2

Regional action was featured across ABC/ESPN2 in the late afternoon window, with the entire country seeing Washington at Oregon and UCF at Memphis (3:30 p.m.). The game window, across both networks, delivered a 2.4 overnight, the sport's second best in that timeslot and third highest of the entire week, across all networks and timeslots.

ABC's "Saturday Night Football" Wisconsin at Michigan: Most-Viewed Sporting Event from Saturday, Oct. 13

· ABC has Televised Four of Top Five Games of the Season Across All Networks

· ESPN has Aired Top Eight Most-Watched Games on Cable; ESPN/ESPN2 have Featured 24 of Top 25

ABC's Saturday Night Football set the pace among college football games and all sporting events on Saturday, Oct. 13, when the signature weekly franchise aired most-watched game of the day on any network and one of the most-viewed college football games of the season. Focusing on college football games in week 7, ESPN/ABC aired three of the top four games and five of the top seven, while simultaneously delivering the two highest audiences in prime-time and two biggest audiences in the noon ET window.

Wisconsin-Michigan a Top Five Most-Watched Game of Season; ABC's Saturday Night Football Audience Up 88% in Week 7

ABC's Saturday Night Football featuring Wisconsin at Michigan (7:30 p.m.) delivered a total live audience of 6,103,000 viewers, a top five college football audience this year on any network and up 88% from last year's SNF week 7 game.

ESPN/ABC "Wins the Night" Among All Broadcast and Cable Competition For Seventh Time This Season

As a result of Saturday Night Football, ABC "won-the night" on Saturday among all broadcast and cable competition - sports and non-sports programming. This is the seventh time this season either ABC or ESPN have "won the night", delivering the highest ratings among all key male and adult demos and earning the most overall viewers from 8 to 11 p.m.

Missouri-Alabama Among Most-Watched Cable Telecasts of the Season

ESPN's prime-time telecast of Missouri at Alabama (7 p.m.) delivered a Nielsen total live audience of 3,758,000 viewers, the most-viewed cable game of week 7. Throughout the entire season, Alabama has now played in two of cable's three most-watched Saturday games, with this week's game joining Alabama's Ole Miss audience near the top of the rankings.

Most-Watched Games are Played on ABC and ESPN

Season to date, ABC has now televised the top two most-watched games on any network and four of the top five. Among cable games, ESPN/ESPN2 have aired the top eight games and 24 of the top 25 most-watched games.

Additional Week 7 Highlights:

· Noon Window: Florida at Vanderbilt (ESPN) and Nebraska at Northwestern (ABC) delivered total live audiences of 2,497,000 viewers and 2,450,000 viewers, respectively, the most-watched noon telecasts among all networks.

· Late Afternoon Window: Washington at Oregon or UCF at Memphis (3:30 p.m.) regionalized on ABC/ESPN2 delivered a total live audience 3,331,000 viewers the second most-watched game window in the late afternoon among all networks and the fourth most-watched game window overall in week 7.

All games were played Saturday, Oct. 13