- ESPN Network’s Air Highest Overnight In Each Game Window and Best in Primetime By More than 75%
- Sooners-Buckeyes: Best September Non-Opening Week Overnight on ABC in Seven Years, Up 33% from 2016 Game on FOX
- Auburn at Clemson: Best Cable Overnight and Higher than Two Games on FOX
ESPN’s networks aired four of the five highest overnights and the best overnight in the individual noon, late afternoon and primetime game windows across all networks during college football’s week 2. ABC’s Saturday Night Football between Oklahoma and Ohio State (8 p.m. ET) earned the week’s highest overnight with a 5.3, while also adding a streaming audience of 170,000 in the average minute. On a night with a number of prime time options, ABC’s audience outpaced NBC by 77% and FOX by 194%
Additional Oklahoma-Ohio State Highlights:
- The overnight for the Sooners victory is ABC’s highest for a non-opening week September game since 2011 and the streaming average audience is the best ever in the same category.
- The overnight and streaming average minute audience is up 39% and 98%, respectively, from SNF’s week 2 telecast last season (Virginia Tech vs. Tennessee).
- The 2017 Sooners-Buckeyes overnight is up 33% from the 2016 matchup between the two schools which aired on FOX.
- Columbus was the No. 1 local market with a 39.6 rating. The top 10 markets:
| Rank | Local Rating | Market |
| 1 | 39.6 | Columbus |
| 2 | 33.4 | Oklahoma City |
| 3 | 25.3 | Tulsa |
| 4 | 22.6 | Dayton |
| 5 | 19.5 | Cleveland-Akron |
| 6 | 11.8 | Cincinnati |
| 7 | 10.0 | Austin |
| 8 | 9.9 | Detroit |
| 9 | 7.6 | Birmingham |
| 10 | 6.9 | Nashville |
Auburn at Clemson on ESPN is Cable’s Best Overnight of Week 2, Out Paces Both of FOX’s Games
Auburn at Clemson (7 p.m., ESPN) earned a 2.0 overnight and a streaming audience of 113,000 in the average minute, setting the pace among all games on cable in week 2. Additionally, the overnight rating between the battle of the Tigers outdrew all games on FOX Sports and CBS. Overall, all eight games on ESPN and ESPN2 had higher overnights than the two games which aired on FS1. Additional highlights:
- The overnight and streaming audience for Clemson’s victory was up 43% and 61% respectively from ESPN’s week 2 primetime telecast (Arkansas at TCU).
- Stanford at USC (8:30 p.m. on FOX) was down 14% from the same 2016 matchup which aired on ABC in prime time (Sept. 17 at 8 p.m.).
- Cincinnati at Michigan (noon) and Pittsburgh at Penn State (3:30 p.m.), both on ABC, where the two highest overnights in their game windows across all networks, earning a 2.8 and 2.7, respectively. The overnight for the Wolverines audience was up 27% from last season’s same window on ABC, which featured the Wolverines hosting UCF.
Please note: All ESPN streaming information is preliminary and is expected to change with further procession. Final numbers will be available this week.
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Media contact: Derek Volner at 860-384-9986; Derek.Volner@ESPN.com and @DerekVolner
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