ABC, ESPN Bounce Back With Big CFB Ratings After YouTube TV Deal

ABC and ESPN’s college football broadcasts saw some of their strongest TV ratings of the season Saturday, with the networks back on YouTube TV following Friday night’s deal to end the Disney–YouTube TV carriage dispute.

After noticeable dips in viewership on Nov. 1 and Nov. 8, ABC had two games top 10 million viewers, and ESPN had its most-watched Saturday game since Week 3. 

Here were the top five most-watched games last weekend:

• Oklahoma-Alabama: 10.5 million (ABC)
• Texas-Georgia: 10.4 million (ABC)
• South Carolina–Texas A&M: 4.3 million (ESPN)
• Notre Dame–Pitt: 4 million (ABC)
• Michigan-Northwestern: 3.76 million (Fox)

Saturday marked the third time since 1996 that a single network drew 10 million–plus viewers for multiple games, as fans tuned in to Oklahoma’s narrow 23–21 win over Alabama and Georgia’s 35–10 blowout victory over Texas—both games with major College Football Playoff implications. 

It was also ABC’s second-most-watched tripleheader of the season.

Texas A&M’s 31–30 win over South Carolina, which featured a 27-point second-half comeback, is ESPN’s most-watched Saturday game since Week 3. While both that game and ABC’s broadcast of Notre Dame–Pitt in the noon ET slot beat Northwestern-Michigan—which was played at Wrigley Field—on Fox, the network’s Big Noon Saturday game window is still pacing 15% higher than the 2024 season average. 

The large audiences for ABC’s two SEC games help the network get back on track for what is still shaping up to be a record season of college football viewership, despite any hit it took from the YouTube TV blackout. 

Meanwhile, ESPN’s College GameDay pregame show drew its highest Week 12 audience on record, averaging 2.6 million viewers Saturday morning. The program remains on track for its best season of TV ratings, currently up 24% over last year’s record pace.