Big Ten Network sets viewership record last weekend

Big Ten Network was looking forward to last Saturday, October 10. It marketed the Day as Big 10.10 as it had stalwarts Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State and Northwestern on the network on the same day. With three games featuring the conference heavyweights, two showcasing top five teams (#1 Ohio State and #4 Michigan State) and one Top 25 matchup (Michigan and Northwestern), Big Ten Network registered its highest viewership in its history and a 2.04 rating from noon until midnight ET in the 12 metered markets in the conference footprint.

That number is up 30% from its previous high in November 2014 and is part of the network’s bullish growth over the past year.

Thanks to its schedule on Saturday, BTN was the top-rated cable network in Baltimore, Chicago, Columbus, Cleveland, Dayton, Detroit and Washington, D.C. and number two in Indianapolis, Milwaukee, New York and Philadelphia.

The top-rated game of the day on Big Ten Network was Maryland-Ohio State where the Terrapins challenged the Buckeyes for most of the game until OSU pulled away at the end. BTN registered a 2.6 rating.

That was followed by Northwestern-Michigan which averaged a 2.3 rating and the nightcap of Michigan State-Rutgers had a 1.7 rating.

As network president Mark Silverman told our Matt Yoder in advance of last Saturday’s games, “Our games and schools are national schools that attract students and send alumni all over the country, and we expect to draw a considerable national audiences for our games.”

So with more teams and more games to cover, Big Ten Network will have increased opportunities to offer days such as last Saturday where they’ll have their glamour teams on their network. It’s all about content and with a conference that is constantly in the national spotlight, BTN is in good position to provide its viewers with games they want to watch.

[Big Ten Network]