Ratings Roundup: F1 Qatar Grand Prix Sees Record Viewership; Rivalry Week on ESPN Hits All-Time Highs
Story Highlights
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, Black Friday on Prime Video shows all time viewership highs for both NFL and NBA matchups; College Football viewership hits new highs on FOX and FS1; and more.
ESPN’s Most-Watched Regular Season College Wrestling Match Ever
- Iowa State vs University of Iowa
- Average 350,000 viewers
- +44% from previous best (Cy-Hawk Dual 2023)
2025 CFB Viewership Surges on FOX & FS1
- Big Noon Saturday
- Second most-watched season on record
- Averaged 6,258,000 viewers on FOXC, up +11% YoY
- Two most-watched regular season CFB games on any network this season (1. OSU-Michigan, 2. Texcas-OSU)
- Second most-watched season on record
- Big Noon Kickoff
- Most-watched season on record
- Averaged 1,770,000 viewers on FOX starting at 11 AM ET, up +14% YoY
- Most-watched season on record
- FOX College Football Friday
- Most-watched season on record
- Averaged 2,318,000 viewers on FOX, up +6% YoY
- Most-watched season on record
- CFB on FOX and FS1
- CFB on FOX averaged 3,393,000 viewers in 2025, up +12% YoY
- CFB on FS1 averaged 465,000 viewers in 2025, up +12% YoY
ESPN Networks Deliver Best College Football Regular Season Since 2011; College GameDay Built by The Home Depot Scores Most-Watched Season Ever
ESPN networks have wrapped up a record-setting college football regular season, delivering their highest average viewership since 2011. Across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU, the sport averaged 2.2 million viewers per game, marking a 16 percent year-over-year increase. ABC posted its best season since 2006, averaging 6.9 million viewers over 46 regular season games – a 19 percent jump from last year and the third-highest average audience for the network on record (dating back to 1996).
All ESPN cable networks saw double-digit year-over-year growth: ESPN (up 14 percent), ESPN2 (up 18 percent) and ESPNU (up 23 percent). ABC was the top broadcast network for college football across all media companies, while ESPN was the most-watched cable network in the sport. Overall, college football across all nationally-rated networks saw record consumption, with 179 billion minutes watched – up 12 percent year-over-year.
Even excluding Nielsen Big Data measurement, ESPN networks were up 8 percent year-over-year, still marking their most-watched season since 2011. ABC’s performance remained the best since 2006, regardless of Big Data inclusion.
ESPN: The Home of College Football
ESPN networks aired the most-watched game in 34 of 42 key Saturday windows, including seven of 14 noon windows, 13 of 14 late afternoon windows and all 14 prime windows. ESPN platforms broadcast eight of the top 10, 26 of the top 30 games this season, and the top 29 games on cable. Of the 16 games across all networks that drew more than 8 million viewers, ESPN networks aired 14. ABC delivered 9 games with more than 10 million viewers, the most ever for a network in a single season.
ABC owned the top two weekly college football windows, with ABC Saturday Night Football Presented by Capital One scoring 8 million viewers, (up 8 percent year-over-year) and SEC on ABC at 3:30 p.m. ET with 7.8 million viewers, (up 31 percent year-over-year). ESPN’s Friday Night window averaged 2.2 million viewers, up 26 percent year-over-year, featuring three of the network’s five most-watched Friday games in the past decade.
ABC was the most-watched network in college football, averaging 3.5 million more viewers than any other network. Viewers watched more college football minutes on ABC than all other broadcast networks combined, and ESPN networks accounted for 61 percent of live game minutes viewed across nationally rated linear networks – more than 2.5 times the competition, up 4 percent from last year and the highest share since 2017.
College GameDay Continues to Raise the Bar
College GameDay had its most-watched season ever, averaging 2.7 million viewers (up 23 percent year-over-year) and more than doubling the audience of its competition. The season featured the nine most-watched regular season episodes ever, led by Lee Corso’s final show in Week 1 with 4.0 million viewers. Growth was especially strong among women (up 35 percent) and viewers under 25 (up 35 percent). Even without Nielsen Big Data measurement, College GameDay Built by The Home Depot would be up 12 percent.
Top 10 College GameDay Episodes All Time
Season Superlatives
- The SEC was the most-watched conference for the fourth consecutive season (based on total minutes), with SEC-controlled games averaging a record 5 million viewers (up 11 percent year-over-year) and accounting for 36 percent of all minutes watched across rated networks.
- ACC games on ESPN networks averaged 2.5 million viewers, up 70 percent year-over-year, with three of the top five weeknight games this season.
- ESPN networks aired three of the top five Big 12-controlled games of the season, including the top game of the season (Week 0, Iowa State vs. Kansas State in Dublin, Ireland).
- The SEC, ACC, Big 12, AAC, C-USA and Sun Belt all saw year-over-year gains on ESPN linear networks.
- Kickoff Weekend was the most-viewed on record for ESPN networks, up 31 percent year-over-year.
- Rivalry Week posted its highest audience since 2012, with ABC delivering its most-watched Rivalry Week since 2012 (7.9 million viewers) and airing five of the top six games of Week 14.
- Week 12 marked only the third time since 1996 that a single network aired two games with over 10 million viewers on the same day.
Top 10 Games on ESPN Networks
ESPN Delivered Most-Watched Women’s College Volleyball Season on Record
- The most-watched women’s college volleyball regular season ever
- Averaged 190,000 viewers, up 36% from 2024 season (44 total telecasts across ABC/ESPN/ESPN2/ESPNU).
- Significant gains among P18-34 (+59%) and women (+41%).
- ESPN aired 4 of its 5 most-watched telecasts ever.
- Nebraska vs. Kentucky in the Broadway Block Party (Aug. 31) averaged 1.2M viewers on ABC, the largest regular season audience for ESPN networks and the top telecast of the season.
- AVCA First Serve delivered ESPN’s top two regular season matches ever on Aug. 24. Stanford-Nebraska (596,000 viewers) and Florida-Pitt (525,000 viewers).
- ABC/ESPN/ESPN2 aired a record-high number of matches during the ’25 season (33 telecasts).
“NFL on CBS” Caps Off Historic November With Another Massive Audience on Sunday
- Led by Bills-Steelers at 4:25PM ET, “NFL on CBS” delivered it’s most-watched Sunday Week 13 game since 2014 with 26.265 million viewers, up +4% vs. last year
- Highlighted by the record-setting 57.230 million viewers for its Thanksgiving game, CBS Sports finished with its best November since the NFL returned to CBS in 1998, averaging 26.487 million viewers, up +15% vs. last year
- “NFL on CBS” national game window at 4:25 PM ET ranks as the #1 program in all of television averaging 26.526 million viewers this season, highest since 1998
- CBS Sports has its most-watched season to date since 1998 with 22.009 million viewers, up +8% vs. last year
Record Audience Watches Formula 1 Qatar Grand Prix on ESPN2
ESPN2’s live telecast of the Formula 1 Qatar Grand Prix on Sunday, Nov. 30, earned an average audience of 1.4 million viewers, the largest audience ever to watch the event on U.S. television, based on Nielsen Big Data + Panel data. The audience peaked at 1.7 million between noon and 12:15 p.m. ET.
In 23 F1 races this season, there have been 15 event viewership records set across ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC. The previous Qatar Grand Prix viewership record was 990,000, set in 2024.
F1 races are averaging 1.3 million viewers this season – on track to establish all-time U.S. television record average for live races. The current record of 1.21 million was set in 2022.
The F1 season ends with the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday, Dec. 7. The race will air live on ESPN and stream on the ESPN App at 7:55 a.m. ET.
College GameDay Built by the Home Depot Delivers Second-Best Regular Season Episode Ever; ESPN Scores Best Rivalry Week Since 2012
- 2nd most-watched episode ever (Week 14 at Michigan)
- 3.1M viewers from 9a-noon ET
- Full telecast beat the competition by 31%
- 3.9M viewers in final hour
- Full show peak 4.5M viewrs
- Season to date, pacing +23% from’24 including top nine reg. season shows EVER
- 3.1M viewers from 9a-noon ET
ESPN Networks Rivalry Week
- Top rivalry week since 2012
- ESPN Networks deliver 2.9 million average viewers across 22 total games
- ABC notches most-watched rivalry week since 2012: 7.9M average viewers across 6 games
- ABC nabs 5 of the top 6 rivalry games on all nets, with 2 reaching the top 5 most viewed this season
- UT Austin vs Texas A&M
- 13M viewers on ABC
- Peak: 14.3M viewers
- Most-watched weekday CFB game on record
- Most-viewed edition of Texas/Texas A&M rivalry
- 3rd most-watched game of the season across all networks
- 13M viewers on ABC
- Alabama vs Auburn
- 11.3M viewers on ABC
- Peak: 13.1M viewers
- ABC’s 9th game with 10M+ viewers this season, most on record for any network in a single season
- 5th most-watched game of the season across all networks
- 11.3M viewers on ABC
- UGA vs Georgia Tech
- 8.7M viewers on ABC
- Peak: 11.3M viewers
- Most-watched edition of the Georgia/Georgia Tech rivalry on record
- 8.7M viewers on ABC
Top Rivalry Week Showdowns on ESPN Networks
- UT vs Texas A&M: 13M on ABC
- Peak: 14.3M viewers
- Alabama vs Auburn: 11.3M ABC
- Peak: 13.1M viewers
- Georgia vs Georgia Tech: 8.7M on ABC
- Peak: 11.3M viewers
- LSU vs Oklahoma: 6.4M on ABC
- Peak: 9.2M viewers
- Ole Miss vs Mississippi State: 5.2M on ABC
- Peak: 6.4M viewers
- Vanderbilt vs Tennessee: 4M on ESPN
- Peak: 4.8M viewers
BIG NOON KICKOFF Scores 4.36 Million Viewers on FOX
- Starting at 11 AM ET, BIG NOON KICKOFF scored 4,358,000 viewers on FOX – the second most-watched BIG NOON KICKOFF ever
- The 2025 season was BIG NOON KICKOFF’s most-watched season in history
18.4M Viewers Tuned in for Ohio State-Michigan on FOX
Prime Video’s Black Friday Gameday Delivers All-Time Highs Across NFL and NBA
Prime Video’s lineup of events on Black Friday has grown into a can’t-miss tentpole on the sports calendar, as the streamer presented nearly 17 hours of live action to fans around the world. The marathon of top-tier global events teed off with The Capital One Skins game from Panther National, where Keegan Bradley picked up $2.1 million in winnings. Coverage then shifted to Philadelphia, where the first-place Bears’ dominant victory over the Super Bowl champion Eagles averaged 16.33 million viewers, according to Nielsen, marking the most-watched Black Friday Football game to date, a +21% increase over last year’s Raiders-Chiefs matchup (13.51M), and a +70% leap from the inaugural 2023 game between the Dolphins and Jets (9.61M). In addition, Friday’s Bears-Eagles game now stands as the most-watched Black Friday sporting event since at least 1991, per Nielsen, surpassing FOX’s 2022 presentation of the U.S.A. vs. England FIFA World Cup match (15.38M).
Prime Video’s Black Friday Gameday events culminated with an Emirates NBA Cup doubleheader, which averaged 2.09 million viewers in the U.S., produced the most-watched NBA on Prime broadcast to date, and outperformed last year’s comparable NBA window by +121%. Leading the charge was an elimination showdown between the Bucks and Knicks, which drew a franchise-high 2.11 million viewers. The late-game matchup between the Mavericks and Lakers averaged 2.06 million, outperforming the comparable game from a year ago by +81%.
Black Friday Football
- Prime Video’s Black Friday Football game featuring Bears-Eagles averaged 16.33 million viewers, marking the second-consecutive year of strong, double-digit viewership growth for the event.
- Bears-Eagles delivered a +21% increase vs. last year’s Black Friday game (13.51M; Raiders-Chiefs, 11/29/24), and a +70% jump over the inaugural BFF game (9.61M; Dolphins-Jets, 11/24/23).
- Friday’s Bears-Eagles game now stands as the most-watched sporting event on Black Friday in the U.S. since at least 1991, per Nielsen.
- The game attracted a peak audience of 20.08 million viewers at 5:33 p.m. ET.
- Among viewers in the coveted P18-34 demographic, Bears-Eagles averaged 3.10M viewers, an increase of +23% over last year’s BFF game (2.53M), and up +76% vs. the inaugural game in 2023 (1.77M).
- Among viewers in the P18-49 demographic, Bears-Eagles averaged 6.97M viewers, an increase of +22% over last year’s BFF game (5.72M), and up +63% vs. the inaugural game in 2023 (4.28M).
- Nightcap, BFF’s postgame show that followed Bears-Eagles, averaged 4.07M viewers, marking the most-watched postgame show ever on Prime, an increase of +6% over last year’s BFF edition (3.85M), and +58% over the inaugural BFF Nightcap in 2023 (2.57M).
- Outside of the U.S., Black Friday Football reached a total of 5.29 million viewers (1.06M AMA) on Black Friday, according to Amazon first-party viewership data.* The United Kingdom, Germany, and Japan were the top-three markets internationally.
NBA on Prime Doubleheader
- NBA on Prime’s Black Friday doubleheader averaged 2.09M viewers, up +121% vs. the comparable window last season (Clippers-Timberwolves + Thunder-Lakers, 11/29/24).
- Bucks-Knicks averaged 2.11M viewers, registering the most-watched NBA on Prime game to date and up +192% vs. last year’s comparable game (Clippers-Timberwolves, 11/29/24).
- Mavericks-Lakers averaged 2.06M viewers, up +81% vs. last year’s comparable game (Thunder-Lakers, 11/29/24).
- Season-to-date, NBA on Prime is averaging 1.22M viewers, up +3% vs. last season’s comparable slate (1.19M).
- NBA on Prime’s Black Friday doubleheader also delivered impressive growth across key demographics:
- Within the P18-34 demo, Black Friday’s doubleheader averaged 357K viewers, up +57% vs. last year’s comparable window.
- Within the P18-49 demo, Black Friday’s doubleheader averaged 1.00M viewers, up +136% vs. last year’s comparable window.
- Within the P25-54 demo, Black Friday’s doubleheader averaged 1.08M viewers, up +142% vs. last year’s comparable window.
- NBA Nightcap, NBA on Prime’s postgame show, averaged 1.09M viewers, marking its most-watched episode on record, and retained an impressive 53% of the late-game audience.
- NBA Nightcap is averaging 646K viewers this season.
