Ratings Roundup: ESPN Sees Highest Viewership Since 2016 on College Football Kickoff Games
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Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press releases and reports around the industry. In this week’s edition, WNBA sees highest viewership even on ION with the Indiana – Chicago matchup; ABC averages 7.6 million viewers for college football kickoff on Saturday, and more.
ESPN Platforms Deliver Largest Kickoff Week Audience Since 2016 – ESPN and ABC Score Top 6 Games Across All Networks
The official kickoff to the college football season did not disappoint, as millions tuned in across ESPN platforms to see major upsets, last-second thrillers and dominant performances from some of the country’s top teams. ESPN’s Nielsen-rated networks airing college football – ABC, ESPN and ESPNU – averaged 3.1 million viewers in Week 1, up 44 percent over 2023 and the largest audience for Kickoff Week across ESPN platforms since 2016.
Both ABC and ESPN were up double digits over 2023. ABC scored its most-watched Kickoff Week since 2016 and the second best on record, finishing up 83 percent year-over-year. Meanwhile, ESPN was up 23 percent for Week 1 over the 2023 edition. Saturday, Aug. 31st was the most-viewed day of college football ever on ESPN+, and Week 1 included the top 3 regular season college football games ever on the platform.
ESPN platforms scored the top six games across all networks in Week 1, hitting multi-year viewership highs in key windows. Additionally, this is the first time since Week 1 in 2016 that ESPN platforms have had six games in one weekend all surpass 4.0 million viewers.
Viewership for September 1 Edition of ESPN Sunday Night Baseball Up 22 Percent from Last Year
The September 1 edition of ESPN Sunday Night Baseball Presented by Capital One – the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Atlanta Braves 3-2 in 11 innings – averaged 1,577,000 viewers and was up 22 percent from last year’s comparable game (New York Yankees vs. Houston Astros), according to Nielsen.
The broadcast peaked at 9:30 p.m. ET with 1,885,000 viewers. Through 22 games, the average audience for Sunday Night Baseball is up five percent from 2023.
On deck: the Houston Astros host the Arizona Diamondbacks on the September 8 edition of Sunday Night Baseball, starting at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Indiana-Chicago Matchup Sees Record WNBA viewership
The Indiana Fever-Chicago Sky matchup on ION on Friday, Aug. 30 was the most-watched WNBA game ever on ION. The game averaged 1.6 million viewers, marking the fifth time this season that the WNBA on ION audience surpassed a million viewers. Viewership peaked at 1.92 million. The average WNBA audience in 2024 on ION, in its second season broadcasting WNBA games, is more than double the 2023 average.
The Fever have played in all five of the most-watched games this season, and they will be on ION’s national broadcast the next two weeks: Sept. 6. vs. Minnesota and Sept. 13 vs. Las Vegas. Both games are at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Top 5 WNBA audiences on ION during 2024 season:
Indiana vs. Chicago (8/30) 1,602,500
Indiana vs. Phoenix (7/12) 1,338,410
Indiana vs. Phoenix (8/16) 1,219,289
Indiana vs. Atlanta (6/21) 1,179,162
Indiana vs. Washington (6/7) 1,023, 432
Modelo Vegas Kickoff Classic Between No. 23 USC and No. 13 LSU Delivers 9.2 Million Viewers on ABC
- ABC’s third best Sunday opener on record
- Peaked with 11.1M viewers
- ABC’s most-streamed college football game on record
- Top 10 regular season game on ESPN platforms over five seasons
- 8.0M average viewers across ABC’s 4 games, ABC’s second best Week 1 on record and best since 2016
ABC Scores Second-Most-Watched Kickoff Saturday On Record – Averages 7.6 Million Viewers Across Trio of Games
- Notre Dame vs. Texas A&M
- 8.2M viewers
- Most-watched Saturday night football game in 2 years
- ABC’s most-streamed regular season CFB game ever
- Peak: 9.3M viewers
- Clemson vs. Georgia
- 7.9M viewers
- Most-watched Week 1 noon game on record
- Peak: 9.5M viewers
- UMiami vs Florida
- 6.6M viewers
- Most-watched Week 1 late afternoon game since 2017
