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[09/03/17 - 01:08 PM]
Florida State vs. Alabama: Monster 7.3 Overnight, ABC/ESPN Best Kickoff Weekend Overnight on Record
ESPN spins the numbers for Saturday, September 2.
[via press release from ESPN]

Florida State vs. Alabama: Monster 7.3 Overnight, ABC/ESPN Best Kickoff Weekend Overnight On Record; Streaming Audience Shatters Previous High

· Michigan vs. Florida: Standout 5.0 Overnight, ABC/ESPN Highest Rated Non-Prime-Time Kickoff Weekend Game Ever; Streaming Audience Sets Same Record

· College Football Week 1: ESPN's Networks Have Aired the Highest-Rated Game Each Day across All Networks; Average Overnight Saturday on ESPN/ABC was 180% Higher than FS1/FOX

· College Football + US Open: Remarkable Usage for ESPN's Streaming

College football's five-day kickoff weekend (Aug. 31-Sept. 4) continues to be record-setting for ESPN's networks as ABC aired both the highest-rated kickoff weekend game ever on record and the highest-rated non-primetime kickoff game ever on Saturday, while the two individual games shattered multiple streaming records in the process. Yesterday's success has created a kickoff weekend trend for ESPN's networks, as the network's MegaCast production for Ohio State at Indiana on Thursday smashed records and ESPN's first Friday night telecast of the season saw significant growth. As a result, ESPN's networks have aired the highest-rated game in each of the first three days of the kickoff weekend.

Florida State vs. Alabama: ABC/ESPN Highest-Rated Kickoff Weekend Game On Record; Michigan vs. Florida: Best Non-Prime-time Kickoff Weekend Record

ABC's Saturday Night Football's telecast of the historic, unprecedented matchup of No. 3 Florida State vs. No. 1 Alabama earned a monster 7.3 overnight rating and had a streaming audience of 237,000 viewers in the average minute becoming ESPN's networks highest-rated and most-streamed kickoff weekend game on record. Michigan vs. Florida, also on ABC (3:30 p.m.), earned a 5.0 overnight and had a streaming audience of 182,000 viewers in the average minute, becoming the highest-rated and most-streamed non-prime time kickoff game on record.

The average minute streaming audience for Alabama's victory is ESPN's second most-streamed regular season game ever, surpassing every September and October game ESPN/ABC has ever televised and trailing only last season's double overtime Michigan-Ohio State game all-time. The streaming audience is up 134% from ABC's Saturday Night Football first game last season (USC vs. Alabama).

The average minute streaming audience for the Wolverines win is ESPN/ABC's second best Saturday kickoff weekend audience ever, trailing only the aforementioned Florida State-Alabama game and up 21% from the same time slot last year (Wisconsin vs. LSU).

The overnight TV rating for the Alabama victory is up 49% from last season's ABC Saturday Night Football opener, with the Wolverines game showing window growth year over year as well.

ESPN Obliterates the Competition on the Season's First Saturday

College football's first full Saturday saw ESPN's networks generate 78% of the gross overnight rating points across all rated-networks. The average overnight rating for the seven games on ESPN/ABC was a 2.8 overnight, while Fox/FS1 averaged a 1.0 overnight for its four games. Comparing the four games on ESPN to the four games on FS1 + FOX Sports, ESPN alone beat them in gross rating points (4.1 to 3.9) without factoring in ABC. Also, ABC aired the three highest-rated games on Saturday, with the Akron at Penn State game (noon), joining the aforementioned two record-breaking games.

Top Markets:

· Florida State vs. Alabama:
Rank Local Rating Market
1 46.6 Birmingham
2 21.6 Jacksonville
3 18.4 Columbus, OH
4 17.2 Nashville
5 16.6 Knoxville
6 15.9 Greenville
7 15.2 Atlanta
8 13.6 Orlando
9 13.1 Memphis
10 12.8 West Palm Beach

Birmingham's local rating is the market's second best ever for an ABC regular season college football game

· Michigan vs. Florida:
Rank Local Rating Market
1 18.5 Jacksonville
2 16.2 Birmingham
3 15.7 Columbus, OH
4 15.4 Detroit
5 12.5 Knoxville
6 11.5 Tampa-St. Pete
7 11.4 Orlando
8 11.2 Nashville
9 9.7 West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce
10 9.5 Dayton

College Football and US Open Result in ESPN's Extraordinary Streaming Numbers

The first Saturday of the college football season, combined with US Open coverage, resulted in one of the largest days ever for ESPN streaming usage, as 3,600,000 unique users viewed 255,000,000 minutes, good for third in both categories in any single day.

*Overnight data exists back to 2004 for ABC and 2001 for ESPN.

Kickoff Weekend Continues: Ranked Matchup Between Big 12 and ACC on Special Sunday Night Presentation; No. 25 Tennessee Highlights ESPN's Traditional Labor Day Night Matchup

For the second straight year, ABC televises a special Sunday night prime-time game to commemorate the season's first week: the only top-25 matchup of the night features the Big 12 and the ACC when No. 22 West Virginia plays No. 21 Virginia Tech (Tonight at 7:30 p.m.) from FedExField in Landover, Md. Steve Levy, Brian Griese and Todd McShay will be on the call, as they begin their second season working together.

ESPN will conclude its opening week slate with its traditional Labor Day Night Game, this year featuring the second 2017 Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game: No. 25 Tennessee vs. Georgia Tech (8 p.m. on ESPN) in an SEC-ACC matchup. The Volunteers-Yellow Jackets matchup is also from Mercedes-Benz Stadium, as ESPN will produce the stadium's first two college football games in a 48-hour span. Herbstreit concludes his stretch with the call, and Rece Davis will be on the play-by-play as Chris Fowler will return to New York City for the US Open. Maria Taylor will be on the sidelines.

Florida State vs. Alabama: More Than 12.5 Million Viewers, the Most-Watched Kickoff Weekend Game On Record Across All Networks; ABC Wins Sunday Night's Head-to Head Competition with Fox

· Seminoles-Crimson Tide's Massive Audience Surpasses Last Season's Notre Dame-Texas Viewership By an Impressive 13%

· ESPN's Networks Have Aired Top-Rated Game All Four Nights of Kickoff Weekend

ESPN's college football kickoff weekend (Aug 31 - Sept. 4) success continues as Florida State vs. Alabama on Saturday is now officially the most-watched college football opening weekend game on record across all networks and, on Sunday night, ABC beat Fox head-to-head by a substantial 32%. Factoring in last night's rating's results, ESPN's networks have aired the top rated game each of the first four nights of college football's kickoff weekend.

ABC's Saturday Night Football Opens the Season with Most-Watched Kickoff Game on Record

ESPN's networks have set a new college football kickoff weekend total live audience viewership record as ABC's Saturday Night Football telecast of the historic matchup between Florida State vs. Alabama (Sept. 2 at 8 p.m.) delivered a total live audience of 12,560,000 viewers, now the most-watched kickoff weekend game ever across all networks -- ESPN's and competitors - surpassing last season's Notre Dame at Texas game which also aired on ABC.

Seminoles-Crimson Tide: A Top 5 Most-Watched Regular Season Game on ABC Since 2006; Key Demos Up More than 50%

In addition to setting new kickoff weekend records, the total live audience for Alabama's victory is a top 5 regular season college football audience on ABC since 2006. On television, the Seminoles-Crimson Tide saw key demos (males: 18-34, 18-49 & 25-54 and persons: 18-49 and 25-54) up more than 50% compared to last season's first ABC Saturday Night Football game of the season (USC vs. Alabama), while this season's total live audience was up 56% overall to the same game. Saturday night's TV audience peaked at 14,118,000 viewers (9 - 9:30 p.m.).

ESPN's Networks: Set a New Kickoff Weekend Viewership Record for Third Consecutive Year

The massive total live audience for Alabama's victory surpassed last season's kickoff weekend double-overtime thriller between Notre Dame and Texas by a remarkable 13%. Now, ESPN's networks have set a new, single game total live audience viewership record for three consecutive kickoff weekends:

Top Three Most-Watched Opening Weekend Games Across All Networks
Rank Total Live Audience Game Network Date
1 12,560,000 Florida State vs. Alabama ABC Sept. 2, 2017
2 11,139,000 Notre Dame at Texas ABC Sept. 4, 2016
3 10,760,000 Ohio State at Virginia Tech ESPN Sept. 7, 2015

Sunday Night: ABC Televises Only Top 25 Game of the Night, Wins the Night vs. Fox; Kickoff Weekend Success Continues

ABC's Sunday night Top 25 telecast of West Virginia vs. Virginia Tech (Sept. 3 at 7:30 p.m.) drew a 2.9 overnight rating, out-rating the college football game on Fox by 32%. Starting with the MegaCast for Ohio State at Indiana on Thursday night, and continuing Friday night with Wisconsin, one of the Big Ten's marquee teams, Saturday night's unprecedented Seminoles-Crimson Tide telecast and Sunday's rivalry game, ESPN's networks have aired the highest-rated game each night of kickoff weekend. ESPN concludes kickoff weekend tonight when No. 25 Tennessee plays Georgia Tech (8 p.m. on ESPN) in the second 2017 Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game from Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

Records date back to 1990 for ESPN and 1996 for ABC. Competitive networks include CBS, Fox, FS1, FX, NBCSN and TBS. Data goes back as far to 1996 with CBS. TV data based on Fast Nationals.





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