On Saturday, a close Big Ten Championship between the Michigan State Spartans and the Ohio State Buckeyes which saw Sparty spoiling the Buckeyes chances at the BCS Championship Game gave Fox a primetime win on Saturday. The network received a very good 7.9 rating with a 14 share. Viewership averaged a very good 13.9 million viewers.
It’s the highest rating and viewership for the event since it began in 2011. And it’s Fox’s highest-rated college football game dating back to the 2010 Fiesta Bowl which received an 8.2/13 and 13.8 million viewers.
Locally, Columbus, Ohio was the highest-rated market across the country with a 48.3/72. Dayton and Cleveland were next with 37.7/55 and 28.5/48, respectively. Detroit and Birmingham rounded out the top five.
While Fox did well with the Big Ten Championship, CBS is expected to do better with the SEC Championship. We’ll provide those numbers when they become available.
Here’s the Fox press release.
BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIP EARNS HIGHEST RATING EVER
In a thrilling victory, the Michigan State knocked off the Ohio State to claim the 2013 Big Ten Football Championship Saturday night at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis and the audience was record-setting. The 2013 Big Ten Championship Game delivered a 7.9/14 national household rating/share with 13.9 million viewers and is the highest-rated, most-watched ever for the event, surpassing the previous record set in 2011 (Michigan State vs. Wisconsin, 4.6/8 with 7.8 million viewers), according to fast national ratings issued by Nielsen Media Research. It is also FOX’s highest-rated college football telecast since the 2010 Fiesta Bowl (8.2/13, 13.8 million viewers), and it is projected to be FOX’s highest-rated, most-watched Saturday night since the NFL playoffs in January 2013. The 2013 Big Ten Championship Game came in +172% over last year’s edition which featured Nebraska and Wisconsin (2.9, 5.1 million viewers).
FOX is projected to easily win the night in prime time (8:00-11:00 PM ET) among households, across key male and adult demographics. According to the fast nationals, the Big Ten Championship Game (8:20pm ET – 12:01am ET) delivered strong ratings in several key demographics: M18-34 (4.2); M18-49 (5.6); M25-54 (6.4) and A18–49 (4.5).
Columbus topped all markets with a huge 48.3/72 followed by Dayton (37.7/55), Cleveland (28.5/48), Detroit (26.7/43) and Birmingham (24.5/35).
That’s it for this post.
