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Game of the Year? Alabama-LSU dominates ratings for 2018
By Keith Farner
Published:
College football fans looked forward to the Alabama-LSU game for much of this season, and the buildup, combined with a primetime kickoff, helped CBS record the highest college football rating of the season on any network.
The game earned a 6.7/13, which is up 81 percent from last year’s LSU-Alabama game (3.7/7), which was also in primetime, according to a release from CBS. Meanwhile, CBS’s No. 6 Georgia vs. No. 9 Kentucky (3:30-6:45 p.m., ET) earned a rating/share of 2.8/7, up 27 percent from last year’s South Carolina vs. No. 1 Georgia in the metered markets.
The Alabama-LSU game, which kicked off at 8 p.m. ET, peaked with an 8.0/15 between 9 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. ET.
As expected, the top five markets were across the Southeast.
Birmingham is regularly listed at or near the top of TV markets that watch college football games, regardless of opponent. But having the Crimson Tide involved, and a relatively close game, at least for a half, played a factor in the ratings.
1. Birmingham- 52.6/70
2. New Orleans- 38.3/56
3. Knoxville- 19.8/31
4. Nashville- 18.9/30
5. Atlanta- 18.7/33
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
