A top ten battle of big-name schools earned strong numbers Saturday night, despite competition from the World Series.
The latest edition of ABC’s “Saturday Night Football,” won by #5 Notre Dame over #8 Oklahoma, earned a 5.9 overnight rating on ABC Saturday night — up 9% from coverage featuring Stanford/USC last year (5.4), and up 11% from coverage featuring Oregon/USC in 2010 (5.3).
The 5.9 overnight is easily the highest of the season for a college football telecast on any network. The previous high was a 4.7 for LSU/Florida on CBS in week six of the season and Michigan/Alabama on ABC in week one.
The strong numbers came despite competition from Game 3 of the World Series on FOX (7.2) and Mississippi State/Alabama on ESPN (1.9).
Earlier Saturday, regional action including USC/Arizona drew a 2.6 overnight — even with last year (2.6), and down 21% from 2010 (3.3).
Head-to-head, the telecast finished behind Georgia/Florida on CBS (4.6), but doubled Texas Tech/Kansas State on FOX (1.3).