CBS Eyes Breakthrough As Big Ten Ratings Still Lag Behind SEC

Another big weekend of college football will be marked by highly ranked teams in every major TV window Saturday, and a big opportunity for one broadcaster that’s been greatly impacted by recent media-rights changes.

CBS has the game with the two highest-ranked teams, No. 7 Indiana at No. 3 Oregon, marking its best game yet this season. The network is in its second season without SEC rights, as its 3:30 p.m. ET game window now features Big Ten action.

But the top-10 matchup for CBS will have stiff competition from ABC’s broadcast of the Red River Rivalry, featuring No. 6 Oklahoma vs. Texas at the Cotton Bowl, in the same TV slot. Last year, Oklahoma-Texas drew 7.6 million viewers on ABC.

While CBS is paying roughly $350 million annually for its Big Ten package, TV ratings for those games are not at the same level as the SEC on ABC, which are averaging 7.9 million viewers per game in the 3:30 p.m. ET window. (Disney is paying roughly $300 million annually for the top SEC game each week that CBS previously broadcast through 2023.) 

Here are the viewership numbers for the CBS 3:30 p.m. ET window so far this season (and where they ranked in the most-watched games that weekend):

• Michigan-Nebraska (Sept. 20): 5.3 million (3rd)
• Ohio State–Washington (Sept. 27): 5.23 million (4th)
• Penn State–UCLA (Oct. 4): 3.1 million (7th)
• Oklahoma State–Oregon (Sept. 6): 2.32 million (6th)
• Nevada–Penn State (Aug. 30): 2.24 million (11th)

On Sept. 13, USC-Purdue drew 1.42 million viewers, after a rain delay pushed kickoff back more than three hours to 6:45 p.m. ET.

Battle Royale

There will be stiff competition between Big Ten and SEC action on competing networks in all three primary CFB windows Saturday (all times ET).

Noon

• Fox: No. 1 Ohio State at No. 17 Illinois
• ABC: No. 8 Alabama at No. 14 Missouri

3:30 p.m.

• CBS: No. 7 Indiana at No. 3 Oregon
• ABC: No. 6 Oklahoma vs. Texas

7:30 p.m.

• NBC: No. 15 Michigan at USC
• ABC: No. 10 Georgia at Auburn

Through the first five weeks of the season, college football viewership across all networks had been trending up 10.5% compared to the same period in 2024, to 2.1 million viewers per game.