Fox and its Big Noon package returned to the top of the weekly college football viewership charts in Week 11.
Michigan’s emotionally charged win over Penn State averaged 9.16 million viewers on Fox, far and away the most-watched game on the Week 11 schedule. It’s Fox’s second-most-watched game of the year, behind Penn State-Ohio State back in Week 8, and ranks sixth overall on the season. The six most-watched games of the year include two on Fox, two on ABC, and one each on ESPN and NBC.
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The rest of the noon window was a disappointment. Alabama-Kentucky averaged 2.76 million viewers on ESPN, followed by Georgia Tech-Clemson with just 1.62 million on ABC.
Fox also claimed the second-most-watched game of the week, with the network’s broadcast of Washington’s win over Utah in the 3:30 p.m. ET window averaging 5.17 million viewers. ABC ranked second at 3:30 with Miami-Florida State, the week’s fourth-most-watched game, averaging 4.14 million viewers, while CBS ranked third with Tennessee-Missouri averaging 3.62 million viewers to round out the top five for the week.
In primetime, ESPN’s broadcast of Ole Miss-Georgia led the way with 4.83 million viewers. It comfortably topped Michigan State-Ohio State on NBC, averaging 3.57 million viewers. ABC ranked third with Texas-TCU drawing 2.82 million viewers, and Fox came in fourth with 2.39 million viewers for West Virginia-Oklahoma.
Fox also had some Pac-12 after-dark action, scoring 3.01 million viewers for USC-Oregon. That ranked seventh overall for the week.
There’s no Colorado watch for Week 11 – the Buffaloes lost to Arizona on the Pac-12 Network, which isn’t rated by Nielsen. Colorado plays at 10:30 p.m. ET on FS1 this Friday against Washington State, needing wins in its final two games to reach a bowl game.
The Week 12 schedule is littered with non-conference matchups and top teams playing on streaming platforms or non-Nielsen-rated networks. Across the broadcast networks, ABC has Louisville-Miami at noon and Fox has Michigan-Maryland. In the afternoon, ABC has UCLA-USC, CBS has Georgia-Tennessee (arguably the best game of the day), Fox has Oregon-Arizona State, and NBC has Wake Forest-Notre Dame. Shifting into primetime, ABC has Washington-Oregon State (another contender for best game of the day), Fox has Texas-Iowa State, and NBC has Nebraska-Wisconsin.
[Data via Sports Media Watch]
About Joe Lucia
I hate your favorite team. I also sort of hate most of my favorite teams.