Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
Slow day, so I thought I would post this, as I am going to try to keep really good track of it this year and it is related to conference realignment. These are the most viewed Big Ten games from last football season (in thousands) that were played on big/national channels (FOX, ABC, ESPN, etc.) that drew at least 2 million viewers, as .
17,137 for #3 Michigan at #2 Ohio State (11:00 am on FOX)
10,531 for #5 Notre Dame at #2 Ohio State (6:30 pm on ABC)
8,273 for #2 Ohio State at #13 Penn State (11:00 am on FOX)
6,599 for #2 Ohio State at Maryland (2:30 pm on ABC)
6,453 for #10 Penn State at #5 Michigan (11:00 am on FOX)
5,583 for Michigan State at #4 Michigan (6:30 pm on ABC)
5,470 for Illinois at #3 Michigan (11:00 am on ABC)
4,757 for #2 Ohio State at Northwestern (11:00 am on ABC)
4,587 for Wisconsin at #3 Ohio State (6:30 pm on ABC)
4,439 for #3 Ohio State at Michigan State (3:00 pm on ABC)
4,419 for Nebraska vs. Northwestern in Dublin, Ireland (11:30 am on FOX - Week Zero)
4,378 for Maryland at #4 Michigan (11:00 am on FOX)
4,377 for Iowa at #2 Ohio State (11:00 am on FOX)
4,198 for #4 Michigan at Iowa (11:00 am on FOX)
4,054 for #22 Penn State at Auburn (2:30 pm on CBS)
4,005 for #4 Michigan at Indiana (11:00 am on FOX)
3,929 for Colorado Stat at #8 Michigan (11:00 am on ABC)
3,920 for Washington State at #19 Wisconsin (2:30 pm on FOX)
3,876 for Nebraska at #3 Michigan (2:30 pm on ABC)
3,537 for Minnesota at #16 Penn State (6:30 pm on ABC)
3,512 for Penn State at Purdue (Thursday at 7:00 pm on FOX)
3,414 for #6 Oklahoma at Nebraska (11:00 am on FOX)
3,339 for Indiana at #2 Ohio State (11:00 am on FOX)
3,048 for Toledo at #3 Ohio State (
2,791 for #11 Michigan State at Washington (6:30 pm on ABC)
2,496 for Iowa at Minnesota (3:00 pm on FOX)
2,488 for #17 Illinois at Nebraska (2:30 pm on ABC)
2,452 for Wisconsin at Michigan State (3:00 pm on FOX)
2,228 for #16 Penn State at Indiana (2:30 pm on ABC)
2,057 for UConn at #4 Michigan (11:00 am on ABC)
A Couple Notes...
- Holy smokes to that Michigan/OSU game ... it drew 7 million more than the Big Ten Championship Game the following week!
- While it's obvious certain teams (Michigan, OSU, PSU) get great ratings because they have massive followings, you also want to play in the right time slots ... 5 of the top 6 are either Big Noon Kickoff (11:00 am on FOX) or College Gameday's traditional slot (6:30 pm on ABC).
- On that note, ZERO Big Ten games on ESPN drew over 2 million, even with name opponents.
- BTN is a ratings killer no matter who is playing. It's easy to look at Illinois/Indiana on BTN drawing 965k and say it is a bad rating, but Michigan/Rutgers only drew marginally more (1.29 million), and Penn State/Rutgers actually drew less. Another comparison is that Illinois drew 512k for Wyoming compared to Penn State's 628k vs. Central Michigan, both on BTN ... you cannot make TOO much of a conclusion about the "ratings ceiling" of a team based on a small sample size, because whatever team is on the big-time channels will draw more, and the better teams get on those channels. Illinois does pretty well when given the chance. On that note...
- A lazy "average viewers per team" list would have Illinois at 1.24 million and Indiana at 1.46 million; are there more IU fans than Illinois fans? Well, if you remove Indiana's games vs. PSU, Michigan or OSU, their average rating is 598k per game, lol. If you do the same for Illinois, it is 811k per game, and Illinois had to play Chattanooga on a Thursday night (176k) and Virginia on the joke that is ESPNU (159k). When looking into the actual numbers, it's clear Illinois has many more viewers ... for example, we drew 5.5 million vs. Michigan at 11:00 am, and Indiana drew barely over 4 million. Indiana played once on ESPN 2 and drew 392k, and Illinois drew 835k. Illinois BTN conference games were never below 500k (and often were pushing 1 million), and Indiana hovered around 200-300k for many. Just an example.
I will be very curious what we can pull for the PSU game in that Big Noon Kickoff slot (especially if we can start 2-0!) and how it compares to other Big Noon Kickoff ratings/PSU's other games.
17,137 for #3 Michigan at #2 Ohio State (11:00 am on FOX)
10,531 for #5 Notre Dame at #2 Ohio State (6:30 pm on ABC)
8,273 for #2 Ohio State at #13 Penn State (11:00 am on FOX)
6,599 for #2 Ohio State at Maryland (2:30 pm on ABC)
6,453 for #10 Penn State at #5 Michigan (11:00 am on FOX)
5,583 for Michigan State at #4 Michigan (6:30 pm on ABC)
5,470 for Illinois at #3 Michigan (11:00 am on ABC)
4,757 for #2 Ohio State at Northwestern (11:00 am on ABC)
4,587 for Wisconsin at #3 Ohio State (6:30 pm on ABC)
4,439 for #3 Ohio State at Michigan State (3:00 pm on ABC)
4,419 for Nebraska vs. Northwestern in Dublin, Ireland (11:30 am on FOX - Week Zero)
4,378 for Maryland at #4 Michigan (11:00 am on FOX)
4,377 for Iowa at #2 Ohio State (11:00 am on FOX)
4,198 for #4 Michigan at Iowa (11:00 am on FOX)
4,054 for #22 Penn State at Auburn (2:30 pm on CBS)
4,005 for #4 Michigan at Indiana (11:00 am on FOX)
3,929 for Colorado Stat at #8 Michigan (11:00 am on ABC)
3,920 for Washington State at #19 Wisconsin (2:30 pm on FOX)
3,876 for Nebraska at #3 Michigan (2:30 pm on ABC)
3,537 for Minnesota at #16 Penn State (6:30 pm on ABC)
3,512 for Penn State at Purdue (Thursday at 7:00 pm on FOX)
3,414 for #6 Oklahoma at Nebraska (11:00 am on FOX)
3,339 for Indiana at #2 Ohio State (11:00 am on FOX)
3,048 for Toledo at #3 Ohio State (
2,791 for #11 Michigan State at Washington (6:30 pm on ABC)
2,496 for Iowa at Minnesota (3:00 pm on FOX)
2,488 for #17 Illinois at Nebraska (2:30 pm on ABC)
2,452 for Wisconsin at Michigan State (3:00 pm on FOX)
2,228 for #16 Penn State at Indiana (2:30 pm on ABC)
2,057 for UConn at #4 Michigan (11:00 am on ABC)
A Couple Notes...
- Holy smokes to that Michigan/OSU game ... it drew 7 million more than the Big Ten Championship Game the following week!
- While it's obvious certain teams (Michigan, OSU, PSU) get great ratings because they have massive followings, you also want to play in the right time slots ... 5 of the top 6 are either Big Noon Kickoff (11:00 am on FOX) or College Gameday's traditional slot (6:30 pm on ABC).
- On that note, ZERO Big Ten games on ESPN drew over 2 million, even with name opponents.
- BTN is a ratings killer no matter who is playing. It's easy to look at Illinois/Indiana on BTN drawing 965k and say it is a bad rating, but Michigan/Rutgers only drew marginally more (1.29 million), and Penn State/Rutgers actually drew less. Another comparison is that Illinois drew 512k for Wyoming compared to Penn State's 628k vs. Central Michigan, both on BTN ... you cannot make TOO much of a conclusion about the "ratings ceiling" of a team based on a small sample size, because whatever team is on the big-time channels will draw more, and the better teams get on those channels. Illinois does pretty well when given the chance. On that note...
- A lazy "average viewers per team" list would have Illinois at 1.24 million and Indiana at 1.46 million; are there more IU fans than Illinois fans? Well, if you remove Indiana's games vs. PSU, Michigan or OSU, their average rating is 598k per game, lol. If you do the same for Illinois, it is 811k per game, and Illinois had to play Chattanooga on a Thursday night (176k) and Virginia on the joke that is ESPNU (159k). When looking into the actual numbers, it's clear Illinois has many more viewers ... for example, we drew 5.5 million vs. Michigan at 11:00 am, and Indiana drew barely over 4 million. Indiana played once on ESPN 2 and drew 392k, and Illinois drew 835k. Illinois BTN conference games were never below 500k (and often were pushing 1 million), and Indiana hovered around 200-300k for many. Just an example.
I will be very curious what we can pull for the PSU game in that Big Noon Kickoff slot (especially if we can start 2-0!) and how it compares to other Big Noon Kickoff ratings/PSU's other games.