College Football TV Ratings

[TexasAggie11]

Interesting read for all major-network televised college football games through week 15:
College Football TV Ratings - Sports Media Watch


Conference TV Ratings

Rank	Conference	Avg Viewers	Avg Rating	# of Rated Gms
1	SEC	3,805,794	2.34	120
2	Big 10	2,920,815	1.84	82
3	ACC	1,961,674	1.25	88
4	Pac 12	1,759,673	1.11	76
5	Big 12	1,625,221	1.01	92
6	MWC	1,010,406	0.65	49
7	AAC	971,983	0.65	60
8	MAC	792,583	0.50	36
9	C-USA	780,254	0.50	42
10	Sun Belt	603,694	0.42	18

Top College Football Teams by TV Ratings

Rank	Team	Avg Viewers	Avg Rating	# of Rated Gms
1	Alabama	6,465,000	3.9	10
2	Texas A&M	5,263,900	3.3	10
3	Michigan	5,257,381	3.3	7
4	Ohio State	5,240,455	3.2	11
5	Auburn	5,216,500	3.2	10
6	Georgia	4,832,300	3.0	10
7	LSU	4,531,818	2.7	11
8	Missouri	3,991,500	2.4	8
9	Notre Dame	3,906,364	2.5	11
10	Michigan State	3,769,111	2.4	9
11	South Carolina	3,499,875	2.2	8
12	Florida	3,369,583	2.1	8
13	Nebraska	3,240,833	2.1	6
14	Florida State	3,232,417	2.0	12
15	Tennessee	3,082,630	2.0	9
16	Oklahoma	3,027,083	1.9	12
17	Clemson	2,970,417	1.8	10
18	Stanford	2,741,550	1.7	10
19	Oklahoma State	2,698,630	1.7	9
20	Northwestern	2,684,300	1.7	5
21	Wisconsin	2,671,278	1.7	9
22	Penn State	2,652,000	1.7	6
23	Mississippi State	2,607,429	1.6	7
24	Mississippi	2,536,750	1.5	8
25	Arkansas	2,485,000	1.5	6
26	Texas	2,408,778	1.5	9
27	Oregon	2,372,350	1.5	10
28	North Carolina	2,244,500	1.5	4
29	UCLA	2,235,650	1.4	10
30	USC	2,205,000	1.4	8
31	Purdue	2,203,500	1.5	4
32	Iowa	2,171,250	1.4	6
33	Miami	2,095,300	1.3	11
34	Arizona State	2,092,286	1.3	7
35	Pittsburgh	2,074,000	1.3	5
36	Texas Tech	1,919,300	1.2	10
37	Baylor	1,873,700	1.1	10
38	Boston College	1,734,125	1.2	4
39	Vanderbilt	1,730,800	1.1	5
40	UCF	1,639,667	1.1	6
41	Illinois	1,627,600	1.1	5
42	Minnesota	1,616,524	1.1	7
43	Arizona	1,601,375	1.0	4
44	Virginia Tech	1,556,111	1.0	9
45	Georgia Tech	1,496,000	1.0	8
46	Washington	1,457,750	0.9	8
47	Louisville	1,435,375	1.0	8
48	TCU	1,352,125	0.9	8
49	Kentucky	1,323,857	0.8	7
50	Oregon State	1,278,286	0.8	7
51	Duke	1,278,000	0.8	7
52	West Virginia	1,271,200	0.8	10
53	Rice	1,211,500	0.8	4
54	Indiana	1,191,875	0.8	4
55	Boise State	1,189,429	0.8	7
56	San Diego State	1,134,250	0.7	4
57	BYU	1,129,444	0.7	9
58	Northern Illinois	1,115,250	0.8	4
59	Kansas State	1,058,167	0.7	10
60	Washington State	1,025,500	0.6	8
61	UConn	1,013,250	0.6	4
62	Navy	990,600	0.7	5
63	Cal	986,000	0.7	8
64	Maryland	979,000	0.6	6
65	Virginia	883,500	0.6	6
66	Fresno State	871,286	0.6	7
67	SMU	868,000	0.5	6
68	Air Force	849,000	0.6	5
69	Wake Forest	758,833	0.5	6
70	USF	743,333	0.5	6
71	Utah State	731,000	0.5	4
72	Ohio	710,000	0.5	4
73	Utah	662,000	0.4	5
74	Iowa State	644,000	0.4	9
75	Nevada	644,000	0.4	4
76	Rutgers	594,222	0.4	9
77	Buffalo	585,800	0.4	5
78	San Jose State	569,750	0.4	4
79	Kansas	564,571	0.4	7
80	Cincinnati	531,750	0.4	8
81	Bowling Green	519,800	0.3	5
82	Toledo	479,500	0.3	4
83	UL-Lafayette	409,750	0.3	4
84	Houston	371,000	0.3	8
85	Tulsa	355,200	0.2	5
86	Marshall	303,800	0.2	5
87	New Mexico	281,750	0.2	4
88	Troy	145,500	0.1	4

Averages and rankings from Good Bull Hunting.

Ratings include only games on ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, and FOX Sports 1. Data for other networks are unavailable (e.g., Big Ten Network, Pac-12 Network, Longhorn Network), and this boosts averages for teams playing on those networks since ratings are generally low.

Some teams benefit from having a low number of rated games since only their most attractive matchups are picked up by top TV stations.

Individual game data was collected from Sports Media Watch. Only teams with 3 or more rated games are included in the list.

 

[husker70]

And for perspective the Army Navy game received a 4.2 rating.

 

[LBJ]

It's a good thing we are bringing in Maryland and Rutgers for their tv market...

 

[Hates Monikers]

It's a good thing we are bringing in Maryland and Rutgers for their tv market...

Keep in mind that BTN will make money simply by getting a channel on the basic cable/satellite lineup in those markets. The network will profit from subscribers who don't even watch football. They'll worry about ratings way down the road.

 

[Great Plains Gopher]

11th of 12 - another dramatic indication of how the Vikings hurt the Gophers in general interest.

 

[Rescooter]

It's a good thing we are bringing in Maryland and Rutgers for their tv market...

Rutgers and Maryland at least made the list! Syracuse didn't even make the top 88.

Perhaps Aggie-Vision needs to expand into outstate New York.

 

[Maximus]

11th of 12 - another dramatic indication of how the Vikings hurt the Gophers in general interest.

And how the Dallas Cowboys hurt A&M (2nd), and how the Lions hurt Michigan (#3) and Michigan State (#10), and how the Falcons hurt Georgia (#6), and how the 49ers hurt Stanford (#18), and how the Bears hurt Northwestern (#20).

Don't those Vikings fans know the Gophers are going for the second nine+win season in the last 108 years?

 

[Iceland12]

Also shows the importance of that Saturday Afternoon CBS/ABC/ESPN Showcases for the SEC and Big Ten.

 

[GophersInIowa]

11th of 12 - another dramatic indication of how the Vikings hurt the Gophers in general interest.

I'm not sure how that proves anything regarding the Vikings.

 

[t-docious]

And how the Dallas Cowboys hurt A&M (2nd), and how the Lions hurt Michigan (#3) and Michigan State (#10), and how the Falcons hurt Georgia (#6), and how the 49ers hurt Stanford (#18), and how the Bears hurt Northwestern (#20).

Don't those Vikings fans know the Gophers are going for the second nine+win season in the last 108 years?

one glaring error in your theory is that none of those teamss play in the same city like we do.

 

[e.bigelow]

one glaring error in your theory is that none of those teamss play in the same city like we do.

Well, the Bears and Northwestern are about as close to the same city as one could get....

 

[Sparlimb]

11th of 12 - another dramatic indication of how the Vikings hurt the Gophers in general interest.

Or possibly an indication of what a losing record does for you ever year. IF we start to win 8+ games every year, people will watch, and it will have nothing to do with the pro team...

 

[WorkingMyTailOff]

I would say that the Huskies of UW & Seattle Seahawks are a similar comparison to the Gophers & Vikings. This town in the past was much more crazy about the Vikings than Seattle was for the Seahawks, but I think that is changing. Interesting the UW and UM are sitting pretty close to each other, and like others have said a few 8 or 9 win seasons and the Gophers could climb up 15 spots and with a Rose Bowl season?

 

[ruppertflywheel]

Viking fans spend a lot of money on a bad product. Not the sharpest knives in the drawer.

 

[Chicago Gophers]

Minnesota is not ranked 11th out of 12 in the Big Ten in terms of ratings, this is bad math.

You cannot create a true average with incomplete data. This list doesn't include BTN games, so it's therefore not a list of Big Ten average ratings. It's a list of average Big Ten ratings on the ABC Family of Networks.

Throw in the BTN ratings and Purdue and Illinois fall far behind us.

Our numbers always compare well with other games in our time slots on other weeks.

 

[Iceland12]

Minnesota is not ranked 11th out of 12 in the Big Ten in terms of ratings, this is bad math.

You cannot create a true average with incomplete data. This list doesn't include BTN games, so it's therefore not a list of Big Ten average ratings. It's a list of average Big Ten ratings on the ABC Family of Networks.

Throw in the BTN ratings and Purdue and Illinois fall far behind us.

Our numbers always compare well with other games in our time slots on other weeks.

Not just the ABC Channels but the BTN point is well taken and included in the O.P.

Ratings include only games on ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, and FOX Sports 1. Data for other networks are unavailable (e.g., Big Ten Network, Pac-12 Network, Longhorn Network), and this boosts averages for teams playing on those networks since ratings are generally low.

 

[Dano564]

Keep in mind that BTN will make money simply by getting a channel on the basic cable/satellite lineup in those markets. The network will profit from subscribers who don't even watch football. They'll worry about ratings way down the road.

The Big Ten Network is huge to the conference and adding Rutgers and Maryland was key in the growth of the network. Also, with those teams in the Big Ten, they will get a big bump in ratings because they aren't playing basketball schools in football any longer.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Chicago Gophers]

Not just the ABC Channels but the BTN point is well taken and included in the O.P.

Ratings include only games on ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, and FOX Sports 1. Data for other networks are unavailable (e.g., Big Ten Network, Pac-12 Network, Longhorn Network), and this boosts averages for teams playing on those networks since ratings are generally low.

It's included as a caveat in the "fine print" but completely skews the numbers to the extent that they're unusable for determining Big Ten ratings comparisons from team to team. And people here are using them to determine that exact comparison.

 

[station19]

The Big Ten Network is huge to the conference and adding Rutgers and Maryland was key in the growth of the network. Also, with those teams in the Big Ten, they will get a big bump in ratings because they aren't playing basketball schools in football any longer.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Could the Big Ten and BTN survive without them?

 

[dpodoll68]

The Napoleon complex re: the Vikings rears its ugly, diseased head once again. Do you guys obsess about John Holmes during alone time with your lady friend?

 

[TexasAggie11]

It's included as a caveat in the "fine print" but completely skews the numbers to the extent that they're unusable for determining Big Ten ratings comparisons from team to team. And people here are using them to determine that exact comparison.

Unless you think that a game on BTN would have higher ratings than a game on ESPN or CBS, not including these numbers works in the Big 10's favor in terms of averages. The only way it would help Minnesota over other conference foes would be if the U played a marquee game on BTN and scrubs on the major networks.

I looked for BTN ratings online and came up short of any concrete numbers, so this is just speculation. However, every home in America with a tv and rabbit ears has ABC and CBS, and every cable provider has ESPN. The same can't be said for Fox Sports 1 or BTN. At best it averages things out.

The real problem with the methodology here is the scrub teams whose only three games on television were against big name teams. They get the benefit of higher ratings even though few were tuned in to watch them specifically.

 

[Nate]

This is from a few years ago:

In just its third season on the air, the network averaged a 2.3 household (HH) rating for its 12-week afternoon football window in its nine metered markets.* The rating exceeded all other sports cable networks airing football during the same noon ET time period.

The network also had significant ratings increases for its eight primetime games. In prime time, the network averaged a 1.7 rating in the nine metered markets, 183 percent higher than last year's rating. In addition, the network's post-game shows in both the afternoon and in prime time also showed ratings increases, with the Saturday Wrap-Up show up 20 percent and the Wrap-Up following the primetime games up 163 percent.

http://www.gophersports.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/120209aaa.html


Since we haven't had a news release like this for 3-4 years now, that could very well mean the numbers are dropping as I am sure they would love to toot their horn to display an increase.