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re: College Football's Biggest TV Draws
Posted on 9/23/21 at 12:04 pm to BHMKyle
Posted on 9/23/21 at 12:04 pm to BHMKyle
ND gets a huge boost with their National TV deal. It's a lot easier to get to 5 million when you are on every TV set. That said the modern era of TV with streaming is going to shift things a bit.
A&M is continuing to grow because the school has gotten so big and Texas has gotten so big as a state, soon to hit 30 million. When you have a baseline of 500k alumni, 66k students, and 30 million in your state if the team is just decent they are going to pull ratings. If they team is actually good they are going to pull monster ratings. Most of those years A&M was decent but not really good, certainly not great. Lots of 8-4 and just a few compelling games. If both A&M and Bama are undefeated going into Kyle this year though that game is going to put up some MONSTER numbers, especially as the CBS Night game. 10 million is probably the floor for that game if it plays out that way.
Texas is interesting because they are such a bandwagon school. If they suck no one watches them except the surprisingly small number of hardcore fans. If they are great though like in the '00s they become HUGE. Just a strange dynamic.
Something else that comes into play for this stuff is how many teams get ratings because people love to hate them. It's not that everyone loves ND so they watch, it's that so many hate them and watch. Same for Bama, Texas, A&M, etc.
A&M is continuing to grow because the school has gotten so big and Texas has gotten so big as a state, soon to hit 30 million. When you have a baseline of 500k alumni, 66k students, and 30 million in your state if the team is just decent they are going to pull ratings. If they team is actually good they are going to pull monster ratings. Most of those years A&M was decent but not really good, certainly not great. Lots of 8-4 and just a few compelling games. If both A&M and Bama are undefeated going into Kyle this year though that game is going to put up some MONSTER numbers, especially as the CBS Night game. 10 million is probably the floor for that game if it plays out that way.
Texas is interesting because they are such a bandwagon school. If they suck no one watches them except the surprisingly small number of hardcore fans. If they are great though like in the '00s they become HUGE. Just a strange dynamic.
Something else that comes into play for this stuff is how many teams get ratings because people love to hate them. It's not that everyone loves ND so they watch, it's that so many hate them and watch. Same for Bama, Texas, A&M, etc.
2
Posted on 9/23/21 at 12:24 pm to rockiee
quote:
Would be interesting to see the breakdown when you separate out the games on ABC/CBS/NBC and FOX.
It is true that the networks dominate when it comes to ratings... partly because there are more eyeballs to watch but also partly because they usually get the pick of the best games.
Since 2013, there have been 21 regular season games attract 10 million viewers or more. Here are the networks they aired on:
10- CBS
6- ABC
3- FOX
1- NBC
1- ESPN
So only one time has a game on cable attracted 10 million viewers or more. It was the 2014 Iron Bowl which actually had an unreal rating, attracting 13.53 million viewers.... the 6th most viewers of any regular season game on any network.
In the past 8 seasons, there were a total of 22 games on ESPN that attracted 5 million viewers or more... so basically 3 per season.
Posted on 9/23/21 at 1:01 pm to Weagle25
quote:
4. Auburn- 77.60
Auburn scored higher than I would have thought. I think they get an extra boost because they play Bama on Thanksgiving weekend and that gives them a guaranteed ratings blockbuster each and every season.
However, its obvious they have a strong resume of attracting viewers even without counting its games against Bama. Since 2013, they've played games that attracted 5M+ viewers against 10 unique opponents... that's 4th most of any program, behind only the Big 3 of Ohio State, Alabama, and Notre Dame.
Auburn has games that made the list against Alabama, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Miss St., Ole Miss, Oregon, Penn State, Texas A&M, and Washington... many of those opponents are not exactly ratings juggernauts so it goes to show Auburn is a big draw all by themselves.
Of course it helps to be in the state of Alabama. Birmingham is the biggest CFB TV market by a wide margin... between 2x and 3x the ratings of the second biggest market (which is usually Greenville or Knoxville).
Posted on 9/23/21 at 1:06 pm to BHMKyle
cause the SEC east has 2 teams worth watching. TWO
Posted on 9/23/21 at 1:06 pm to aggressor
quote:
ND gets a huge boost with their National TV deal. It's a lot easier to get to 5 million when you are on every TV set. That said the modern era of TV with streaming is going to shift things a bit.
Yes, to a degree. But oddly enough, most of their biggest games for viewership occurred on networks other than NBC. Only one of their Top 9 biggest games for viewership were on their main network... and only two of the Top 19... the others were on ABC, FOX, ESPN, or CBS.
The fact that in 8.5 seasons, Notre Dame has only TWICE attracted more than 5 million viewers on NBC (2020 Clemson and 2018 Michigan), yet they've attracted that many on other networks 17 times goes to show just how miserable NBC's production quality is for College Football.
Posted on 9/23/21 at 1:09 pm to DarthRebel
quote:
There is a little under 3 million people in the State of Mississippi.
Ole Miss scored #20 and Mississippi State #22. Both impressive considering the size of state.
Both had 7 games hit the 5M+ mark... Ole Miss against 5 different opponents; MSU against 4 different opponents. Both of those are solid showings considering how small those schools are and how small the population ranks.
Posted on 9/23/21 at 3:43 pm to BHMKyle
Tennessee 
Michigan??? Those people must like taking cat naps during those early boring games.
Michigan??? Those people must like taking cat naps during those early boring games.
Posted on 9/23/21 at 3:47 pm to BHMKyle
Florida State 7th is a head scratcher.
Posted on 9/23/21 at 4:02 pm to Hback
I like watching FSU this year
Posted on 9/23/21 at 4:13 pm to AustinAggie
quote:
I’m sorry, but shouldn’t Arkansas be somewhere on this list?
Maybe you accidentally left them off?
Asking for my friends.
They were watching Alabama games.
Posted on 9/23/21 at 4:17 pm to BHMKyle
No doubt the top 3 have a ton of fans. Especially the bandwagon ND and Bama fans. But make no mistake the reason them 3 are so far ahead is because ppl will tune just in with just the hope they watch them lose.
Posted on 9/23/21 at 4:19 pm to Ponchy Tiger
quote:
ppl will tune just in with just the hope they watch them lose.
It’s true. Bama is America’s team.
Posted on 9/23/21 at 4:22 pm to BHMKyle
Considering how shitty Auburn was between 2013 and 2020, it’s pretty damn impressive that we’ve had the 4th highest ratings.
Posted on 9/23/21 at 4:26 pm to BHMKyle
Here are somem of the biggest draws I've ever seen...
Posted on 9/23/21 at 4:32 pm to BHMKyle
It’s not CFBs biggest TV draws if you don’t count post season.
Posted on 9/23/21 at 4:37 pm to Hback
quote:
Florida State 7th is a head scratcher.
Remember all those close games they had in 2014 when they were #1 and the defending national champs. A LOT of people wanted to see them lose.
Posted on 9/23/21 at 4:39 pm to BHMKyle
quote:
THE RESULTS:
RATING KINGS:
1. Alabama- 98.21
Posted on 9/23/21 at 4:52 pm to BHMKyle
quote:
Ole Miss and Mississippi State had 7 games make the list, including even one Egg Bowl (2014)
The Egg Bowl is often played in a unique time slot with little competition (Thanksgiving, etc but not on the Saturday).
Posted on 9/23/21 at 8:41 pm to BHMKyle
quote:Are these regular season games only or does it include playoffs and championships?
Meanwhile if you look at Alabama's list, their Top 6 highest rated games were spread out among 4 different opponents.... which goes to show they are more responsible for those ratings than their opponent likely is.
Posted on 9/23/21 at 9:11 pm to BHMKyle
Florida has been pretty boring until recently so makes sense. If Richardson becomes a generational talent we hope he can be we will draw the attention we used to
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