or


[09/02/19 - 06:50 AM]
College Football Kickoff Weekend: Houston-Oklahoma Becomes Second Highest-Rated Game of the Week; ABC has Aired Top 3 Highest-Rated Games
ESPN spins the numbers for Sunday, September 1.

[via press release from ESPN]

College Football Kickoff Weekend: Houston-Oklahoma Becomes Second Highest-Rated Game of the Week; ABC has Aired Top 3 Highest-Rated Games

ABC has now televised the three highest-rated games of the College Football Kickoff Weekend, as the network's Sunday presentation of Houston-Oklahoma (7:30 p.m. ET) surpassed Saturday's ESPN CFB150 Showcase Game between Duke-Alabama (3:30 p.m.) to become the second highest-rated game of the week. The rating for the Cougars-Sooners matchup, which saw Oklahoma jump out to a 21-0 first half lead on their way to a 49-31 victory, trails only ABC Saturday Night Football's Oregon-Auburn matchup (7:30 p.m.), which remains the highest-rated game of the weekend.

ABC's Sunday showdown delivered a 3.6 overnight, peaking at a 4.2 late in the first half (9-9:15 p.m.). Oklahoma City was the No. 1 market, earning 28.0 local rating. Tulsa (25.9), Birmingham (18.7), West Palm Beach (7.7) and Houston (7.5) round out the top five markets.

Rank Game Rating Network
1 Oregon-Auburn 4.4 ABC
2 Houston-Oklahoma 3.6 ABC
3 Duke-Alabama 3.1 ABC

ESPN's five-day Kickoff Weekend slate concludes with the annual Labor Day Night special, featuring No. 9 Notre Dame at Louisville (8 p.m. on ESPN).

ESPN and ABC Televise Four Highest-Rated Games of College Football's Kickoff Weekend; ESPN Networks Finish Five-Day Slate Up 31%

· ABC's Saturday Night Football Sets the Pace among all Networks

· ESPN Airs Top 10 Highest-Rated Games on Cable this Season

ESPN and ABC aired the four highest-rated games during college football's Kickoff Weekend across all networks and, combined with ESPNEWS and ESPNU, delivered a 31% ratings increase over last season's similar Kickoff Weekend. The five-day slate's success was evident among many individual game windows, including the season premiere of ABC's Saturday Night Football featuring Oregon-Auburn, which delivered the sport's highest rating of the weekend and was up 63% year-over-year.

ABC and ESPN: Top Five Highest-Rated Games of the Season

Kickoff Weekend continued ESPN's fast start to the season, which began when ESPN televised Miami-Florida in Week 0 (Aug. 24) and delivered the network's highest-rated college football game since 2016. Inclusive of that game, ESPN and ABC have aired the five highest-rated games of the season and ESPN's networks, overall, have 15 of top 17.

Rank Game Rating Network Date
1 Oregon-Auburn 4.4 ABC Sat, Aug. 31
2 Miami-Florida 4.1 ESPN Sat, Aug. 24
3 Notre Dame-Louisville 3.7 ESPN Mon, Sept. 2
4 Houston-Oklahoma 3.6 ABC Sun, Sept. 1
5 Duke-Alabama 3.1 ABC Sat, Aug. 31

Notre Dame-Louisville Concludes Weekend with Another Top-Rated Game; Adds to ESPN's Cable Supremacy

ESPN's Labor Day telecast featuring Notre Dame at Louisville (8 p.m. ET) delivered a 3.7 overnight, making it the second highest-rated game of Kickoff Weekend across any network and the third highest-rated game of the season. With the Week 0 and Labor Day overnight ratings leading the way, ESPN and ESPNEWS have combined to air the top 11 highest-rated games on cable through Kickoff Weekend. Additional Irish-Cardinals highlights:

· The 3.7 rating was in line with last season's Labor Day telecast featuring Virginia Tech-Florida State (3.8 overnight).

· The overnight peaked throughout the first half, consistently landing at a 4.4 from 9 p.m. to 9:45 p.m. before the Irish took a 21-14 lead and never trailed again.

· Louisville was the No. 1 local market, earning a 16.6 local rating. The remaining top markets: Rank Market Rating
1 Louisville 16.6
2 Birmingham 11.2
3 New Orleans 7.3
4 Indianapolis 7.0
5 Jacksonville 6.8

Additional Kickoff Week Highlights

· Besting the Competition: ESPN's networks had the highest-rated game in nearly every game window:

· Thursday: Two highest-rated games on August 29

· Friday: Two highest-rated games on August 30

· Saturday: Highest-rated late afternoon and top three highest-rated night games on August 31

· Starting Saturday Strong:

· ESPN's networks, cumulatively, were the highest-rated networks among any media company in the noon game window on Saturday, Aug. 31. In that window, ESPN's networks combined to deliver a 3.4 overnight across its four games.

· College GameDay Built by the Home Depot (9 a.m.-noon) delivered a 1.4 overnight (ESPN and ESPNU), including a 1.6 for its final hour on ESPN only.

Numbers included all based on Nielsen overnights; Additional final viewership elements will be available this week





  [september 2019]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S


· SATURDAY NIGHT COLLEGE FOOTBALL (ABC)





most recent ratings | view all posts
[09/17/25 - 03:14 PM]
Buccaneers at Texans Delivers 17.4 Million Viewers, ESPN's Most-Watched "MNF" Week 2 Game Since 2008
Additionally, the Buccaneers-Texans is ESPN's most-watched individual game on weeks with multiple "MNF" games, whether a true doubleheader or two games with staggered start times.

[09/16/25 - 03:39 PM]
"College GameDay Built by The Home Depot" and College Football on ESPN/ABC Both Off to Stellar Starts in 2025
ABC is off to its best three-week start ever, averaging 7.8 million viewers per game.

[09/16/25 - 03:02 PM]
"20/20" Is the No. 1 Program Across Broadcast and Cable on Friday Night
"20/20" ranked as the No. 1 broadcast program on Friday night in Total Viewers (2.457 million).

[09/16/25 - 03:01 PM]
ABC News' "Nightline" Ranks No. 1 in Total Viewers, Adults 25-54, and Adults 18-49, Leading CBS' "After Midnight" and NBC's "Late Night with Seth Meyers" in All Three Measures
For the 2nd week in a row, "Nightline" improved on the previous week in Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49.

[09/16/25 - 02:45 PM]
FOX NFL Smashes All-Time Viewership Records with Week 2 Super Bowl Rematch
A massive 33.8 million viewers delivers FOX Sports its best-ever regular season Sunday telecast, most-watched Week 2 NFL telecast on record and more all-time viewership highs!

[09/16/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10 Week of September 8: "Canelo vs. Crawford" Packs a Punch, "Wednesday" Season 2 Joins Most Popular List
In movies, "KPop Demon Hunters" danced its way back to No. 1 on the English Film list with 22.6 million views.

[09/15/25 - 03:25 PM]
Over 41 Million Global Viewers on Netflix Watch Terence Crawford Defeat Canelo Alvarez to Claim Super Middleweight Championship
The main event scored an estimated average minute audience (AMA) of 36.6 million live+SD viewers from opening to closing bell, per VideoAmp and Netflix.

[09/15/25 - 11:45 AM]
The "77th Emmy Awards" Delivers Its Largest Television Audience Since 2021, Up +8% from Last Year
Hosted by Nate Bargatze, the telecast was seen by more than 7.42 million viewers on the CBS Television Network and streaming on Paramount+.

[09/12/25 - 02:43 PM]
"The Groomsmen: First Look" Launches Hallmark Channel's "Fall Into Love" Seasonal Stunt with Chart-Topping Ratings
The film was the #1 most-watched entertainment cable program on Saturday among Households, Women 18+, Persons 18+, and Total Viewers.

[09/12/25 - 05:31 AM]
ESPN Networks Deliver Most-Watched WNBA Regular Season Ever
ESPN networks aired eight of the top 10 most-watched WNBA games during the 2025 season, highlighted by its most-watched WNBA game ever - 2.7 million viewers for Chicago Sky at Indiana Fever on May 17 (ABC).

[09/10/25 - 02:09 PM]
ESPN Delivers Most Viewed Tennis Telecast of the Year and Most Viewed US Open Since 2022
The Men's Championship averaged 3 million viewers on ABC, up 82% vs. 2024 while the Women's Championship averaged 2.4 million on ESPN, up 50% vs. 2024.

[09/09/25 - 03:43 PM]
On Pace for Record Year, ESPN Formula 1 Viewership Earns 10th Event High of '25 Season
F1 races are averaging 1.4M viewers this season across ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC, ahead of the all-time series record average of 1.21M that was set in 2022.

[09/09/25 - 03:29 PM]
ABC Scores Three of the Top Four Best Audiences of College Football's Week 2; "College GameDay" Delivers Second Most-Watched Regular Season Show on Record
Michigan/Oklahoma (9.7 million viewers) was ABC's most-viewed Week 2 game since 2006.

[09/09/25 - 03:17 PM]
FOX's "Big Noon Saturday" & "Big Noon Kickoff" Up Big Through Week 2
Iowa-Iowa State scored 4,278,000 viewers on FOX, most-watched game in the noon window.

[09/09/25 - 02:26 PM]
NBC Sports Posts Largest Two-Game NFL Kickoff Weekend Audience in a Decade & Second Best All-Time, Averaging 26.5 Million Viewers Across NBC & Peacock
NBC's 2025 NFL Kickoff Weekend average viewership trailed only 2015, as Steelers-Patriots in NFL Kickoff '15 and Cowboys-Giants in the Sunday night opener averaged 27.2 million viewers.