College football fans were excited for the season to return, and that excitement was reflected in TV ratings released today.
ABC aired the two highest-rated college football games on any network during Saturday’s action of opening weekend, including the Auburn-Oregon game, which aired on Saturday Night Football leading the way among all games, ESPN said in a press release. The Thursday through Saturday window on ESPN/ABC/ESPNEWS aired 12 of the 14 highest-rated games across all networks.
Individual game rates are up 40 percent year-over-year across ESPN’s networks, and ESPN itself is up 22 percent.
Birmingham again was the top market in America as ABC’s rating peaked at 5.5 as Auburn drove and scored the game-winning touchdown (11:15-11:30 p.m.). Birmingham led all markets with a 37.1 overnight. The other top markets are Portland, Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Nashville, Jacksonville, Memphis, Knoxville, Columbus and Atlanta.
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
