Once again, the Army/Navy game benefited from being the only show in town.
The Army/Navy college football game drew a 4.5 overnight rating on CBS Saturday afternoon, up 7% from last year (4.2), up 10% from 2012 (4.1), and the highest overnight for the game since 1999 (4.9). The previous fifteen-year mark was 4.2, set last year and in 2009.
The 4.5 overnight for Army/Navy is tied as the 12th-highest of the season for college football on any network and the fifth-highest on CBS. Excluding games involving Alabama and Florida State, Army/Navy drew the season’s third-best overnight — trailing only Michigan/Ohio State last month (5.5) and USC/Stanford in September (4.6).
Army/Navy has continued to benefit from moving to a week after the conference championship games. The teams’ five highest rated meetings in the metered markets have taken place in the six years since the scheduling change took effect in 2009, reports Sports Media Watch.