In a story that has become all too familiar for networks not named ABC, the new home of the SEC once again dominated college football viewership over the weekend.
Week 12’s SEC on ABC tripleheader swept all three college football windows on Saturday.
📢 @ESPNCFB swept Week 12 with ALL 3 @SEC on ABC games winning the day!
🏈 @Vol_Football–@GeorgiaFootball | 10.0M viewers
🏈 @LSUfootball–@GatorsFB | 6.0M
🏈 @TexasFootball–@RazorbackFB | 4.6MPlus, @KU_Football–@BYUfootball scored in ESPN’s late-night window with 1.8M viewers pic.twitter.com/uNSuq2IMg1
— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) November 19, 2024
Beginning with Texas’ win against Arkansas in the noon window, ABC averaged 4.6 million viewers per ESPN PR, beating out Fox’s Big Noon Saturday game between Utah and Colorado (numbers for Fox’s game were not immediately available). The Longhorns and Razorbacks peaked at 5.7 million viewers on ABC.
Moving on to the 3:30 p.m. ET window, Florida’s win against LSU averaged 6.0 million viewers on ABC, securing the most-watched afternoon game of Week 12. The notable competition during this window was Penn State-Purdue on CBS. The network remains at an impasse with Nielsen and therefore has not been releasing viewership data recently.
Finally, Georgia’s two touchdown win over Tennessee in the primetime window averaged 10.0 million viewers between ABC and ESPNU. The game beat out No. 1 Oregon’s narrow escape against Wisconsin on NBC (exact viewership was not immediately available).
Per ESPN VP Research Flora Kelly, it is the sixth week this season that ABC has swept all three college football windows. ABC has accounted for 36% of all college football viewership this season, greater than all other broadcast networks combined.
ABC has once again achieved a clean sweep, winning all three college football windows. This is the sixth time this year that ABC had the top game in all 3 windows
ABC alone accounts for 36% of total College football minutes, higher than all other broadcast networks combined https://t.co/0v4Haiv3Gq
— Flora Kelly (@ESPNFlora) November 19, 2024
Saturday college football games on ABC are averaging 5.69 million viewers across 36 windows so far this season. Comparatively, Fox is averaging 3.05 million viewers across 30 windows (through Week 11), CBS is averaging 3.20 million viewers across 12 windows (through Week 11), and NBC is averaging 3.11 million viewers across 15 windows (through Week 11).
As for the premier windows for each network, ABC’s marquee primetime window is averaging 7.25 million viewers through Week 12. Fox’s Big Noon clocks in at 4.77 million viewers, CBS’s 3:30 p.m. ET window is averaging 3.64 million viewers for the nine games where viewership data is publicly available, and NBC’s Big Ten game (usually 7:30 p.m. ET) is averaging 3.36 million viewers.
ABC’s performance with its new SEC package has been nothing short of dominant this season. With only two more weeks left in the regular season, it looks almost certain that ABC’s primetime window will dethrone Fox’s Big Noon as college football’s most-watched in 2024.
[ESPN PR]
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.