ABC: Two of Top Three Highest-Rated Games Across All Networks; Saturday Night Football Continues Prime Time Success

ESPN’s Networks: Top Five Highest-Rated Games on Cable; 10 of Top 11

ABC’s Saturday Night Football UCLA at USC: Up 16% Year-Over-Year; Los Angeles’ Earns Highest Local Rating of the Season

ABC Up 104% in Noon Game Window for Virginia at Miami

ABC was up 35% year-over-year for college football’s week 12 and aired two of the three highest-rated games across all networks, including continuing its season-long prime time success with Saturday Night Football. In addition to being up for the day, the network also increased its ratings year-over year in all three individual game windows, including more than doubling its rating in the noon window. On cable, ESPN’s networks aired the top five highest-rated games and 10 of the top 11.

ABC’s Saturday Night Football Up 16%; Los Angeles Earns its Best Local Rating on the Season across All Networks

ABC’s Saturday Night Football featuring UCLA at USC (8 p.m., ET) earned a 2.9 overnight, one of the highest-rated games of the day across all networks and besting Fox’s prime time game by 163%. The rating for the battle of LA was up 16% from last season’s week 12 Saturday Night Football game (Oklahoma at West Virginia).

Locally, Los Angeles was the No. 1 market, delivering a 10.5 rating, the market’s best for a college football game this season across all networks: The complete top five local markets:

Rank Local Rating Market 1 10.5 Los Angeles 2 9.3 Columbus 3 5.1 San Diego 4 4,3 Dayton 5 3.9 Salt Lake

ABC Up Massive 104% in Noon Window; Miami Continues To Tune In for the Hurricanes

ABC saw its ratings for the noon window increase by a massive 104% year-over-year, as Virginia at Miami (noon, ABC) earned a 2.7 overnight, one of the top 3 highest-rated games of the week across all networks. The local rating for Hurricanes’ come-from-behind victory in Miami was a 9.0, the best in the market for a non-primetime game this season.

ABC Late Afternoon Window Up 23%

Illinois at Ohio State (3:30 p.m.) earned a 2.2 rating, up 23% from the comparable window on ABC last season (regional action: Florida State at Syracuse or Texas at Kansas). The viewership for the Buckeyes’ dominant win could possibly be the best in that timeslot among all networks when it is reported this week.

ESPN Delivers Second-Highest Rated Prime Time Game of the Week; Continues Season Trend of Airing Highest-Rated Games on Cable

LSU at Tennessee on ESPN (7:15 p.m.) earned a 1.6 overnight, the second highest-rated prime time game across all networks, trailing only the aforementioned Saturday Night Football contest. Additionally, ESPN increased its ratings by 23% from last season’s comparable window (Clemson at Wake Forest).

Led by the Tigers-Volunteers, ESPN led the way on cable, as all four Saturday games on ESPN were the highest-rated on cable for the week, while ESPN2’s telecast of Ole Miss at Texas A&M (7 p.m.) was the fifth highest-rated game on cable.

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Media contact: Derek Volner at 860-384-9986; [email protected] and @DerekVolner