ESPN’s College GameDay continued its historic trend on Saturday.
Originating from Columbus, Ohio for a top-five matchup between Indiana and Ohio State, College GameDay averaged 2.5 million viewers, good for its fourth most-watched regular season episode of all-time, per ESPN PR.
Through 13 weeks, @CollegeGameDay continues its historic run for best season ever!
📍 @bigten Battle | @OhioStAthletics
🏈 2.5M avg. viewers
🏈 3.1M final-hr viewers
🏈 3.5M peak
🏈 4th most-watched reg. season ep ALL TIME
🏈 Up 21% over ’23’s comparable ep (1 less wk in ’23) pic.twitter.com/8VtxOBe5Nz— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) November 26, 2024
The show averaged 3.1 million viewers in its final hour from 11:00 a.m. to noon ET, peaking at 3.5 million viewers. Versus last year’s comparable show, GameDay was up 21%.
ESPN has rode GameDay‘s momentum from the beginning of the year all the way through to the end of the regular season. No doubt adding a legendary coach in Nick Saban and retaining Pat McAfee (and his weekly kicking contests) have helped the show to some record marks.
Notably, ESPN’s main pregame show competition, Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff, had a strong week themselves, though with a few caveats. Big Noon Kickoff, which also hailed from Columbus on Saturday, averaged 2.30 million viewers from 11 a.m. ET onward. That figure likely includes a segment after noon ET but before the Buckeyes and Hoosiers kicked off, which can help boost viewership numbers as fans tune into the start of the game.
Indiana-Ohio State scored 9.32 million viewers on FOX’s BIG NOON SATURDAY 🏈
– Most-watched CFB game of the week on any net
– Peaked at 10.52 million viewers on FOXExtra points:
– Colorado-Kansas earned 6.22 million viewers on FOX
– @BNKonFOX‘s best show of the 2024 season 🏅 pic.twitter.com/ydWhfp5SzK— FOX Sports PR (@FOXSportsPR) November 26, 2024
Nevertheless, over 2 million viewers in its final hour is a strong number for Fox, who regularly sees audiences half that size for its college football pregame show.
It’s probably about time to retire College GameDay and Big Noon Kickoff comparisons — we all know where they stand. But it’s certainly notable that GameDay is on pace for a record-setting season after nearly four decades on the air.
[ESPN PR]
