- SNF Franchise is Up on TV, Streaming Audience Continues to Grow; ABC Up Significantly Year Over Year
- Week 5: Louisville at Clemson is Most-Watched, Most-Streamed Saturday Game of the Season
Through college football’s first five weeks, ABC’s Saturday Night Football is averaging a total live audience (TV + Streaming) of 6,201,000 viewers, the most-watched college football franchise on any network. The television audience is averaging 6,100,000 viewers a game, 28% better than the next best window on any other network and up 3% from the first five weeks of ABC’s Saturday Night Football last season. The franchise’s streaming audience has garnered 101,000 average minute viewers per game, up 84% year over year.
Accounting for all ABC games (16 games), the network’s total live audience is 5,760,000 viewers per game, college football’s most-watched network. The television audience (5,659,000 viewers) and streaming audience (101,000 viewers) is up 16% and 90%, respectively, year over year.
Louisville-Clemson Delivers Large Audience
In week 5, ABC’s Saturday Night Football featured the season’s first top 5 matchup – No. 3 Louisville at No. 5 Clemson (8 p.m.). The much-anticipated, ACC showdown generated a total live audience of 9,494,000 viewers, the most-watched Saturday college football game of the season across all networks. ABC’s TV audience of 9,294,000 viewers is the third most-watched October Saturday Night Football game ever (34 games).
| Rank | TV Viewers | Game | Date |
| 1 | 13,251,000 | Notre Dame at Florida State | October 18, 2014 |
| 2 | 10,367,000 | Penn State at Ohio State | October 25, 2008 |
| 3 | 9,294,000 | Louisville at Clemson | October 1, 2016 |
Saturday Night Football dates back to 2006
The stream of the Tigers’ 42-36 victory generated an average minute audience of 200,000 viewers with 812,000 unique viewers watching a total of 51,107,000 minutes, making it the second-most streamed regular season college football game ever for ESPN.
Additional Louisville at Clemson Highlights:
- ABC Wins the Night: ABC was the most-watched network in prime time across all broadcast and cable in all key demographics — households, persons 2+, men 18-34, men 18-49, men 25-54, persons 18-34, persons 18-49, and persons 25-54 while ESPN ranked No. 2 (Kentucky at Alabama and Arizona at UCLA) among men 18-34, men 18-49, men 25-54, persons 18-34, and persons 18-49.
- Year Over Year Increase: The Cardinals-Tigers’ total live audience (9,494,000 viewers) was up 23% from Notre Dame at Clemson (7,718,000 viewers), last season’s week 5 Saturday Night Football
- Record Setting Louisville Game: ABC’s TV audience was the best ever for a Louisville football regular season game on any ESPN network, surpassing the previous high — West Virginia at Louisville on Nov. 2, 2006 on ESPN — by 45% (6,395,000 viewers).
Additional Week 5 Highlights:
- Wisconsin at Michigan (3:30 p.m. on ABC) delivered a total live audience of 6,990,000 viewers, week 5’s second-most watched game across all networks and one of the most-watched games of the season.
- Stanford at Washington (Friday, Sept. 30, at 8 p.m. on ESPN) delivered a total live audience of 3,424,000 viewers, the second-most watched Friday game on ESPN on record*, trailing only Boise State at Michigan State from week 1 in 2012 (non-thanksgiving day weekend).
- Texas at Oklahoma State (noon on ABC) with a total live audience of 3,852,000 viewers was up 38% year over year to the comparable game window (Texas at TCU).
ESPN/ABC Set the Pace Across All Networks; ESPN Streaming Usage Increase Continues
Through week 5, ESPN/ABC has combined to televise the three most-watched college football games across all networks and seven of the top 8.
| Rank | TV Viewership | Game | Date | Network |
| 1 | 10,945,000 | Notre Dame at Texas | Sept. 4, 2016 | ABC |
| 2 | 9,294,000 | Louisville at Clemson | Oct. 1, 2016 | ABC |
| 3 | 8,354,000 | Ole Miss vs. Florida State | Sept. 5, 2016 | ESPN |
| 4 | 8,169,000 | Alabama at Ole Miss | Sept. 17, 2016 | CBS |
| 5 | 7,944,000 | USC vs. Alabama | Sept. 3, 2016 | ABC |
| 6 | 7,832,000 | LSU vs. Wisconsin | Sept. 3, 2016 | ABC |
| 7 | 6,851,000 | Wisconsin at Michigan | Oct. 1, 2016 | ABC |
| 8 | 6,216,000 | Florida State at Louisville | Sept. 17, 2016 | ABC |
Additionally, this year’s three most-watched college football games — Ole Miss-Florida State, Louisville-Clemson, and Notre Dame-Texas — represent the three most streamed regular season college football games ever for ESPN.
| Game | Date | Average Minute Audience (Rank) | Unique Viewers (Rank) | Total Minutes Viewed (Rank) |
| Ole Miss vs. Florida State | Sept. 5, 2016 | 231,000 viewers (1st) | 854,000 (1st) | 59,700,000 (1st) |
| Louisville at Clemson | Oct. 1, 2016 | 200,000 viewers (2nd) | 812,000 (2nd) | 51,100,000 (2nd) |
| Notre Dame at Texas | Sept. 4, 2016 | 194,000 viewers (3nd) | 786,000 (3nd) | 49,900,000 (3nd) |
*Records date back to 1990
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Media contact: Derek Volner at 860-384-9986; Derek.Volner@ESPN.com and @DerekVolner
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