Florida State vs. Alabama: More Than 12.5 Million Viewers, The Most-Watched Kickoff Weekend Game On Record
ESPN September 4, 2017 – ESPN’s college football kickoff weekend (Aug 31 – Sept. 4) success continues as Florida State vs. Alabama on Saturday is now officially the most-watched college football opening weekend game on record across all networks and, on Sunday night, ABC beat Fox head-to-head by a substantial 32%. Factoring in last night’s rating’s results, ESPN’s networks have aired the top rated game each of the first four nights of college football’s kickoff weekend.
ABC’s Saturday Night Football Opens the Season with Most-Watched Kickoff Game on Record ESPN’s networks have set a new college football kickoff weekend total live audience viewership record as ABC’s Saturday Night Football telecast of the historic matchup between Florida State vs. Alabama (Sept. 2 at 8 p.m.) delivered a total live audience of 12,560,000 viewers, now the most-watched kickoff weekend game ever across all networks — ESPN’s and competitors – surpassing last season’s Notre Dame at Texas game which also aired on ABC.
Seminoles-Crimson Tide: A Top 5 Most-Watched Regular Season Game on ABC Since 2006; Key Demos Up More than 50% In addition to setting new kickoff weekend records, the total live audience for Alabama’s victory is a top 5 regular season college football audience on ABC since 2006. On television, the Seminoles-Crimson Tide saw key demos (males: 18-34, 18-49 & 25-54 and persons: 18-49 and 25-54) up more than 50% compared to last season’s first ABC Saturday Night Football game of the season (USC vs. Alabama), while this season’s total live audience was up 56% overall to the same game. Saturday night’s TV audience peaked at 14,118,000 viewers (9 – 9:30 p.m.).
For full press release, visit ESPN MediaZone here.
Photo courtesy of Ric Tapia/NFL
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