ESPN/ABC College Football Week 7: ESPN’s Third-Best Regular Season College Football Saturday
- No. 7 Michigan State at No. 12 Michigan is ESPN’s Most-Viewed October College Football Game in More than 20 Years, WatchESPN’s Second-Best Regular Season College Football Game Ever
- ESPN/ABC Televises the Three Most-Watched Games Across All Networks
- WatchESPN’s Second Best Regular Season College Football Saturday Ever
- 2015 Season: ESPN/ABC – Seven Most-Watched Games Across All Networks, Nine of Top 10
- 2015 Season: WatchESPN Streams Four Best Regular Season College Football Games Ever
In week 7, ESPN televised its third most-watched regular season college football Saturday ever and its best October Saturday ever (dating back to 1994) led by No. 7 Michigan State at No. 12 Michigan (3:30 p.m. ET on ESPN), which averaged 7,398,000 viewers throughout the telecast and 11,549,000 viewers for the game’s final play (7:15 p.m. – 7:24 p.m.). The Spartans-Wolverines game was college football’s most-watched game last weekend across all networks. Additional superlatives:
- ESPN’s most-viewed 3:30 p.m. game ever (records date back to 1990)
- ESPN’s most- watched October college football game in more than 20 years and second best overall, trailing only Florida State at Miami on October 8, 1994 (7,677,000 viewers)
- WatchESPN’s second-most-streamed regular season college football game ever, with 167,000 average minute impressions on top of the TV audience and a total of 697,000 unique viewers accounting for 39,424,000 minutes viewed
ESPN is No. 1 in Prime Time; WatchESPN Continues to Set Records
No. 8 Florida at No. 6 LSU (7 p.m. on ESPN) was the top prime-time game and second-most-watched college football game of week 7 across all networks, averaging 6,778,000 viewers. Additionally, the matchup was WatchESPN’s third-best college football game ever and second-most watched of the week, adding 146,000 average minute impressions on top of the TV audience and a total of 694,000 unique viewers accounting for 32,982,000 minutes viewed.
Record-Setting Saturday
ESPN averaged 3,431,000 viewers on Saturday, Oct. 17, into Sunday, Oct. 18 (6 a.m. to 6 a.m.), making it the third most-watched regular season college football Saturday and the most-watched October Saturday ever (dating back to 1994).
| Rank | Date | Viewers |
| 1. | Nov 29, 2014 | 4,416,000 |
| 2. | Sept 7, 2013 | 3,840,000 |
| 3. | Oct 17, 2015 | 3,431,000 |
On WatchESPN, week 7 was the second-most-watched regular season college football Saturday ever:
| Rank | Date | Total Viewers Using WatchESPN | Total Minutes Viewed on WatchESPN |
| 1. | Sept 12, 2015 | 2,500,000 | 210,000,000 |
| 2. | Oct 17, 2015 | 2,100,000 | 190,800,000 |
Additional Week 7 Highlights:
- ABC Saturday Night Football — Penn State at No.1 Ohio State (8 p.m.) averaged 5,867,000 viewers, the third-most-watched game of Week 7 across all networks
- Arizona State at No. 4 Utah (10 p.m. on ESPN) — Averaged 3,059,000 viewers, the most-watched late-night game (10 p.m. or later) of the season across all networks, surpassing No. 23 Cal at No. 5 Utah game (2,820,000 viewers) on ESPN in week 6.
- Louisville at No. 11 Florida State (noon on ESPN) — Averaged 2,852,000 viewers, up 43% against the comparable window last year (Florida State at Syracuse)
ESPN/ABC Sets the Pace at the Halftime of the 2015 Season:
College football is halfway through the 2015 regular season and ESPN/ABC is setting the pace among all networks:
- ESPN/ABC has televised the top 7 and nine of the 10 most-watched games of the season
| Rank | Viewership | Date | Time (ET) | Game | Network |
| 1. | 10,585,000 | Mon, Sept 7 | 8 p.m. | No. 1 Ohio State at Virginia Tech | ESPN |
| 2. | 7,967,000 | Sat, Sept 5 | 8 p.m. | No. 20 Wisconsin vs. No. 3 Alabama | ABC |
| 3. | 7,898,000 | Sat. Sept 12 | 8 p.m. | No. 7 Oregon at No. 5 Michigan State | ABC |
| 4. | 7,647,000 | Sat. Oct 3 | 8 p.m. | No. 6 Notre Dame at No. 12 Clemson | ABC |
| 5. | 7,605,000 | Sat, Sept 19 | 9:15 p.m. | No. 15 Ole Miss at No. 2 Alabama | ESPN |
| 6 | 7,398,000 | Sat, Oct 17 | 3:30 p.m. | No. 7 Michigan State at No. 12 Michigan | ESPN |
| 7 | 7,298,000 | Sat, Oct 3 | 3:30 p.m. | Regional: No. 1 Ohio State at Indiana or Texas Tech at No. 5 Baylor | ABC |
| 8. | 7,045,000 | Sat, Oct 3 | 3:30 p.m. | No. 13 Alabama at No. 8 Georgia | CBS |
| 9 | 6,777,355 | Sat, Oct 17 | 7 p.m. | No. 8 Florida at No. 6 LSU | ESPN |
| 10 | 5,867,000 | Sat, Oct 17 | 8 p.m. | Penn State at No. 1 Ohio State | ABC |
- ESPN networks and ABC combined viewership is up 15% season-to-date:
| Year | Number of Games | Viewership Average |
| 2015 | 130 | 1,976,000 |
| 2014 | 125 | 1,713,000 |
Through week 7
- WatchESPN has streamed its four best regular season college football games ever:
| Rank | Average Minute Impressions | Game | Date |
| 1. | 194,000 | No. 1 Ohio State at Virginia Tech | Sept 7, 2015 |
| 2 | 167,000 | No. 7 Michigan State at No. 12 Michigan | Oct 17, 2015 |
| 3 | 146,000 | No. 8 Florida at No. 6 LSU | Oct 17, 2015 |
| 4 | 128,000 | No. 15 Ole Miss at No. 2 Alabama | Sept 19, 2015 |
Rank based on average minute impressions
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Media contact: Derek Volner at 860-384-9986; [email protected] and @DerekVolner
