Ratings Roundup: College Football Sweeps Ratings Across All Networks

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, Prime Video’s Black Friday game sees a 41% YoY increase, while Thanksgiving Day matchups see all around viewership increases; and more.

USL Championship Final Delivers Record-Breaking Viewership on CBS

The United Soccer League (USL) registered the largest television audience in league history as the 2024 USL Championship Final drew 431,000 viewers on CBS. Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC claimed its first title with a 3-0 victory over Rhode Island FC during the Nov. 23 noon (ET) broadcast, capping the first year of the USL’s multi-year agreement with CBS Sports and expanding the league’s national reach across the CBS Television Network, CBS Sports Network, and CBS Sports Golazo Network.

“The record-breaking audience for the 2024 Championship Final on CBS highlights the growing national appeal of the USL and our commitment to making the league accessible to fans across the country,” says Paul McDonough, USL President and Chief Soccer Officer. “Our partnership with CBS has been instrumental in connecting us with a wider audience and bringing high-quality soccer to fans. The success of this broadcast, coupled with local television deals, demonstrates the positive momentum we are building as we continue to elevate the USL’s presence nationwide.”

The league’s three network broadcasts on CBS this year reached over 1 million viewers, highlighting an upward trend in the USL’s national visibility. Since 2017, the USL has expanded its broadcast footprint with agreements across ESPN, Peacock, TUDN, and local linear partnerships at the club level.

Local Television Partnerships Expand Accessibility

For the first time, all USL Championship clubs secured local television deals, significantly increasing accessibility for fans across the country and strengthening community connections. These partnerships provided fans with free over-the-air options, bringing USL action to wider audiences while creating new promotional and commercial opportunities for clubs.

Local television agreements contributed to record-breaking audience growth this season. Average match audiences for the USL Championship and League One rose by 20%, with total viewership climbing 18%. Local linear broadcasts saw over 15% more viewers, including a 25% increase in home markets.

In 2024, the USL delivered over 1,200 hours of live soccer programming across 613 matches.

ESPN and ABC Deliver Record-Breaking College Football Viewership in 2024 – ABC Scores Top Two Most-Watched Windows with ABC Saturday Night Football More Than Doubling the Competition

ESPN platforms delivered record-breaking college football viewership in 2024, with ABC owning the season as the No. 1 network for college football, averaging 5.8 million viewers for 46 regular season games, an impressive 56 percent increase year-over-year and ABC’s best college football season in 15 years (since 2009). ESPN platforms scored their most-watched season since 2016 with an average of 1.9 million viewers per game across all Nielsen-rated networks (ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU) – a 19 percent increase year-over-year.

ABC is College Football’s Top Network
ABC reached historic milestones in 2024, with viewers consuming 58 billion minutes of live college football, the most ever for a single network during a regular season. Additionally, the inaugural season of SEC on ABC was a proven winner, averaging 6.4 million viewers per game, with the top SEC on ABC game each Saturday averaging 7.9 million viewers.

ABC boasts the top two most-watched Saturday windows across all networks and media companies with its primetime and late afternoon windows, outpacing the competition by more than double in primetime and more than 60 percent in the late afternoon. ABC’s Saturday Night Football franchise cemented itself as the top window in the sport, averaging 7.4 million viewers, the best for any network since 2008, representing an 89 percent year-over-year increase. The late afternoon window (3:30 p.m. ET) drew 5.9 million viewers, up 49 percent year-over-year to become the second-most-viewed Saturday window in the sport this year. ABC emerged as the most-watched network in college football, drawing 85 percent more viewers than any competitor and nearly matching all other broadcast networks combined in total minutes consumed.

ESPN Networks Welcome Viewers Home
ESPN and ABC demonstrated their leadership as the home of college football by airing the most-watched game in 71 percent of Saturday windows, including 50 percent of noon games, 79 percent of late afternoon games, and 86 percent of primetime games. ESPN and ABC also showcased many of the sport’s blockbuster matchups, delivering four of the top five, 15 of the top 20, and 35 of the top 50 most-viewed games this season, including the 19 most-viewed cable games.

Moreover, 10 games across all networks drew more than 9 million viewers, the highest number in nearly three decades. ESPN platforms aired five of these games, marking their strongest showing since 2008. ESPN measured networks were also responsible for 57 percent of college football live game minutes viewed across all Nielsen-rated networks, marking the company’s highest share since 2018.

ESPN+ Scores Most-Viewed Season on Record
The season also saw remarkable digital and streaming milestones. ESPN+ recorded its most-watched college football season ever, with viewership up 58 percent and engagement up 231 percent. Engagement with college football content on ESPN Digital also hit a record high, with daily average unique viewers growing by 8 percent year-over-year.

Individual Game Highlights

• ABC’s Week 8 Georgia-Texas Showdown: 13.2 million viewers, the most-watched game of the season and the top primetime audience across all networks since 2014 (excluding conference championships). The same two teams will meet in Saturday’s SEC Championship Game on ABC.
• Historic Doubleheader: ABC’s Week 8 featured two games with 10+ million viewers, a first on one network since 1996 – Georgia-Texas (13.2M) and Alabama-Tennessee (10.8M).
• Rivalries at Their Peak: Clashes like Texas-Texas A&M (9.5M viewers), Georgia-Georgia Tech (8.5M viewers), and Florida-Georgia (7.4M viewers) delivered their largest audiences on record.
• Additional Spotlights
  • Week 0
    • Florida State-Georgia Tech (5.0M viewers) Aer Lingus Classic in Ireland was the most-watched Week 0 game since 2019 and top game on cable this season.
    • ABC’s MEAC/SWAC Challenge (1.3M viewers) drew its largest audience ever.
  • Week 1
    • North Dakota State-Colorado (4.8M viewers) was ESPN’s most-watched Thursday opener since 2017.
      USC-LSU (9.2M viewers) was ABC’s third best Sunday opener on record.
  • Week 5
    • Virginia Tech-Miami (3.3M viewers) was ESPN’s second most-watched Friday game since 2018.
    • ABC’s Alabama-Georgia (12.0M viewers) at the time was ESPN platforms’ best regular season game since 2017.
  • Week 7
    • Kansas State-Colorado (3.3M viewers) was the most-watched late night game of the season and third best on any network in more than a decade.
  • Week 8
    • ABC’s Week 8 Alabama-Tennessee (10.8M viewers) was ABC’s most-watched late afternoon game since 2015.
  • Week 12
    • ABC’s Tennessee-Georgia (10.0M viewers) is the fifth most-watched game this season.

ESPN Scores Most-Watched Women’s College Volleyball Regular Season (Min. 5 Live Games)

• Most-consumed season on record with 635 million minutes
• Averaged 140,000 viewers, up 21% YoY
• Increased viewership YoY among women (+20%), P18-24 (+70%), P2-17 (+90)
• Most-watched game was Nebraska-Louisville on Sept. 22 (ABC). Averaged 684,000 viewers to become ESPN platforms’ most-watched regular season game ever

Rivalry Week on ABC/ESPN Roars into Viewership Record Books in Week 14

• ESPN College GameDay sees 2,400,000 viewers
  • Final hour peaked with 3.8 million viewers
  • 9th most-watched reg. season episode of all time
  • Best season ever entering champ week averaging 2.2 million viewers (+6% YoY)
• ESPN/ABC score most-watched rivalry week since 2016
• ABC delivers 3 of top 4 & 5  of top 7 most-watched games of Week 14
  • 9 games across ABC & ESPN surpass 2M viewers
    • UT Austin vs Texas A&M
      • 9.5 million vieweres
      • Largest audience for the Lone Star showdown on record
      • Week 14’s most-watched primetime game
      • Peak: 10.6 million viewers
    • Georgia Tech vs UGA
      • 8.5 million viewers
      • Largest audience for Georgia Tech/Georgia rivalry on record
      • Best audience for a Black Friday game on any network since 2011
      • Peak: 11.5 million viewers
    • Auburn vs Alabama
      • 7.4 million viewers
      • Peak: 8.6 million viewers

FOX’s BIG NOON SATURDAY Scores 12.3 Million Viewers for Michigan-Ohio State

• Most-watched Big Ten game of the season on any network
• 2nd most-watched CFB game of the season on any network

Prime Video’s Black Friday Football Delivers 41% YoY Increase

• According to Nielsen, Black Friday Football (BFF) on Prime Video averaged 13.51 million viewers on Friday afternoon, marking a +41% increase over last year’s first edition (9.61M, Dolphins-Jets, 11/24/23).
  • Friday’s viewership peaked at 17.43 million viewers between 6:00-6:15PM ET, registering a +56% increase over last year’s BFF peak (11.18M, 5:00-5:15PM ET).
• As it has with TNF every week this season, Prime Video’s presentation of BFF outperformed all head-to-head programming across broadcast and cable.
• Among viewers in the coveted P18-34 demographic, Raiders-Chiefs on Prime averaged 2.53 million viewers, an increase of +43% over last year’s BFF game (1.77M), and the No. 1 program on Friday (+142% over the No. 2 program).
• Among viewers in the P18-49 demographic, Raiders-Chiefs on Prime averaged 5.72 million viewers, an increase of +34% over last year’s BFF game (4.28M), and was the No. 1 program on Friday (+128% over the No. 2 program).
• Nightcap, BFF on Prime’s postgame show that followed Raiders-Chiefs, scored an average viewership of 3.85 million viewers, marking an increase of +50% over last year’s inaugural BFF edition (2.57M).

2024 Thanksgiving Day Games Set Viewership Records

For the third consecutive year, the NFL has set a Thanksgiving Day viewership record.

The average viewership across all three games – Chicago Bears versus Detroit Lions, New York Giants versus Dallas Cowboys and Miami Dolphins versus Green Bay Packers – was 34.2 million, the highest Thanksgiving Day average on record (records date back to 1988). Digital streaming across platforms for the three games delivered an average minute audience of 1.1 million – the highest on record for Thanksgiving Day and up +36% versus last year.

The total unduplicated audience across all three games was 141 million – the highest Thanksgiving Day total audience on record, up +6% versus last year and up +2% versus the previous record set in 2022 (records date back to 2001).

The early game on CBS between the Bears and Lions averaged 37.5 million viewers – the most-watched early Thanksgiving Day game on record and up +11% versus last year’s Packers versus Lions game which was the previous record.

The late afternoon game on FOX between the Giants and Cowboys averaged 38.8 million viewers, the fourth most-watched Thanksgiving Day game on record and fifth most-watched NFL regular season game on record (records date back to 1988).

More Than 26 Million Thanksgiving Night NFL Viewers for Record Third Consecutive Year on NBC, Peacock and Telemundo, as Dolphins and Packers Continue NBC Sports’ Holiday Tradition

Cowboys Thanksgiving Victory on FOX Projects to Rank as the Most-Watched NFL Telecast This Regular Season on Any Network with 38.5 Million Viewers

• 38.5 million viewers tuned in for the Cowboys Thanksgiving victory over the Giants
• Projects to ranks the most-watched NFL telecast this regular season on any network
• Projects to rank as the fourth most-watched Thanksgiving Day game on record
• Projects to rank as the most-watched telecast on any single network since Super Bowl LVIII
• Up +14% over FOX’s Thanksgiving broadcast last season

NWSL Closes Monumental 2024 Season With Record Championship Weekend Viewership of Over 2.5 Million Viewers

The 2024 NWSL Championship, presented by Google Pixel, averaged 967,900 viewers in primetime on the CBS Television Network last Saturday, marking the league’s most-viewed match in history. The 2024 figure marks an 18% percent increase from the 2023 title match (816,800) and a six percent jump from the 2022 contest which held the NWSL’s previous viewership record of 915,000.

Viewership for the Championship match, which saw the top-ranked Orlando Pride defeat the No. 2 Washington Spirit, 1-0, to earn their first-ever championship title, peaked at 1.1 million viewers.

In addition to a record-breaking audience for the league’s marquee match, CBS’ coverage of the 2024 NWSL Skills Challenge, presented by CarMax, which aired Sunday afternoon, marked the most-viewed NWSL event in history with an average of 1,537,720 million viewers. The Skills Challenge was the most-viewed non-NFL sports event of the day.

Broadcasting live from CPKC Stadium last Friday, CBS Mornings became the first-ever national morning show to host a live broadcast at a women’s sports Championship.

“When we began our groundbreaking new media deals this season, the goal was to redefine our value and to put more of our matches in the places and spaces where fans consume content,” says NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman. “This past weekend’s outstanding coverage on CBS platforms, which included CBS Mornings’ historic broadcast from CPKC Stadium, record match viewership and the most-watched NWSL event in history, is the product our efforts to broaden and diversify our audience. Thanks to the collaboration of our partners at CBS, we’ve successfully brought the excitement of the NWSL to more fans than ever before.”

The NWSL’s seven postseason linear telecasts drew an average of 562,900 viewers for a total audience of 4.6 million across the playoffs. Total viewership across Nielsen-rated platforms in 2024 reached 18.7 million, a fivefold gain from the 2023 season.

The NWSL’s continued growth in viewership underscores the league’s expanding fan base and growing presence in the sports media landscape. These milestones follow a year of significant accomplishments, including record-breaking attendance, a historic new collective bargaining agreement and landmark domestic broadcast agreements aimed at bringing women’s soccer to broader audiences.

ESPN’s Monday Night Football Scores 17.4 Million Viewers for Ravens at Chargers in Week 12

In a game featuring John and Jim Harbaugh going head-to-head (Ravens-Chargers – 8:15 p.m. ET, November 25, 2024), ESPN’s Monday Night Football delivered 17.4 million viewers (ESPN, ABC, ESPN2, and ESPN Deportes) and peaked at 19.2 million viewers late in the third quarter. The Ravens-Chargers game is MNF’s fifth game of more than 17 million viewers this season and second consecutive week achieving the feat.

BIG NOON SATURDAY Scores Most-Watched CFB Game of the Week (11/26/24)

• 9,322,000 viewers watched Ohio State 38-15 victory over Indiana in FOX’s BIG NOON SATURDAY
  • BIG NOON SATURDAY
    • Most-watched college football game of the week on any network
    • Peaked at 10,523,000 viewers from 1:15 to 1:30 PM ET on FOX
    • Up +38% over 2023’s BIG NOOON SATURDAY average on FOX (6,739,000)
  • Colorado – Kansas:
    • Scored 6,216,00 viewers, up +119% over 2023’s Big 12 average on FOX (2,835,000)
    • Third most-watched college football game of the week on any network
  • BIG NOON KICKOFF:
    • From 11:00 AM ET, posted 2,302,000 viewers in Week 13 – the most-watched show of the 2024 season

25.2 Million Viewers Tuned in for AMERICA’S GAME OF THE WEEK (11/26/24)

• Most-watched telecast of the week on any network
• Season-to-date AGOTW is averaging 25.3 million viewers, up +9% over last year and its best showing since 2016

Steelers-Browns on Prime Posts 14.78M on Nielsen’s Big Data + Panel Measurement