National TV Trends for CFB

 

Snapshot of college football TV viewership after Week 5: https://t.co/UGPGn51Hsq

— Danny Neckel (@DNeckel19) October 7, 2026

Top 12 college football total 📺 viewership leaders after Week 5: Ohio St: 27.9M Alabama: 26.0M Texas: 26.0M Ole Miss: 24.2M LSU: 22.7M Michigan: 22.4M Texas A&M: 16.3M Clemson: 15.4M Notre Dame: 15.3M Florida: 15.2M Tennessee: 14.9M Florida St: 13.9M

— Danny Neckel (@DNeckel19) October 7, 2026

Week 5 of @ESPNCFB delivered 3 of the 4 most-watched games across all nets 📈 🏈 @AlabamaFTBL-@HailStateFB: 5.1M viewers 🏈 @CanesFootball-@ClemsonFB: 4.6M 🏈 @GatorsFB-@MizzouFootball: 4.4M 🏈 @AuburnFootball-@Vol_Football & @NDFootball-@UNCFootball: 3M each https://t.co/9iBAE2u0ki

— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) October 6, 2026

The Big Ten is winning National Championships and making more TV money than the SEC. But there is a growing problem...

The widening gap in TV ratings and the quality of the TV product itself, compared to the SEC, has many hitting the panic button.https://t.co/QybDxLb8wF pic.twitter.com/Mt38lrpFsk

— Ben Koo (@bkoo) October 1, 2026

Current college football total 📺 viewership leaders after Week 4:

Texas: 26.0M
Ole Miss: 24.1M
LSU: 22.4M
Ohio St: 22.0M
Alabama: 21.0M
Michigan: 18.3M
Texas A&M: 15.2M
Florida St: 13.2M
Kentucky: 13.0M
Notre Dame: 12.3M

— Danny Neckel (@DNeckel19) October 1, 2026

NEW: College Football television ratings are down 11% from the first month of the 2025 season, per FOS📉

But a source with knowledge of Disney’s viewership data tells @AndyStaples that SEC minutes watched are up 41% year-over-year.

Story: https://t.co/l50VluAJde pic.twitter.com/B3QZNrn5GK

— On3 (@On3) October 2, 2026

Week 6 2025 CFB TV Ratings

 

ABC & ESPN scored 3 of Week 6's top 4 games:

🏈 @VandyFootball-@AlabamaFTBL | 6.4M viewers
🏈 @CanesFootball-@FSUFootball | 6.0M viewers
🏈 @TexasFootball-@GatorsFB | 4.0M viewers

ABC is off to its best 6-week start EVER & owns the top 2 most-viewed windows in the sport pic.twitter.com/7Fo7wlGgGm

— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) October 7, 2025

Most-watched CFB games, Week 6:

Vandy-Bama (ABC): 6.4M
Miami-FSU (ABC): 6M
Michigan-Wisc (FOX): 4.6M
Texas-Florida (ESPN): 4M
Kentucky-UGA (ABC): 3.7M
Minn-Ohio St (NBC): 3.2M
Penn St-UCLA (CBS): 3.1M

— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) October 8, 2025

https://www.on3.com/boards/threads/tv-ratings-fsu-miami-game.8337433/#post-172299061

Just for reference, games with 4mil+ viewership through the first six weeks of the season. Fox, NBC, CBS have to be wondering what in the world they got themselves into.

	week	millions	network	time (East)
Texas at Ohio State	1	16.6	FOX	12:00 PM
Georgia at Tennessee	3	12.6	ABC	3:30 PM
Notre Dame at Miami (Sunday)	1	10.8	ABC	7:30 PM
Alabama at Florida State	1	10.6	ABC	3:30 PM
LSU at Clemson	1	10.4	ABC	7:30 PM
Alabama at Georgia	5	10.4	ABC	7:30 PM
Michigan at Oklahoma	2	9.7	ABC	7:30 PM
Oregon at Penn State	5	8.5	NBC	7:30 PM
Florida at LSU	3	7.6	ABC	7:30 PM
LSU at Ole Miss	5	6.7	ABC	3:30 PM
Florida at Miami	4	6.5	ABC	7:30 PM
Vanderbilt at Alabama	6	6.4	ABC	3:30 PM
Texas A&M at Notre Dame	3	6.2	NBC	7:30 PM
TCU at North Carolina (Monday)	1	6.1	ESPN	8:00 PM
Auburn at Oklahoma	4	6.1	ABC	3:30 PM
Miami at Florida State	6	6.0	ABC	7:30 PM
South Carolina vs Virginia Tech (Sunday)	1	5.4	ESPN	3:30 PM
Michigan at Nebraska	4	5.3	CBS	3:30 PM
Ohio State at Washington	5	5.2	CBS	3:30 PM
Ole Miss at Kentucky	2	4.8	ABC	3:30 PM
Clemson at Georgia Tech	3	4.8	ESPN	12:00 PM
Wisconsin at Michigan	6	4.6	FOX	12:00 PM
Iowa State vs Kansas State	0	4.5	ESPN	12:00 PM
Wisconsin at Alabama	3	4.5	ABC	12:00 PM
Florida State at Virginia (Friday)	5	4.4	ESPN	7:30 PM
Iowa at Iowa State	2	4.3	FOX	12:00 PM
Notre Dame at Arkansas	5	4.3	ABC	12:00 PM
USC at Illinois	5	4.1	FOX	12:00 PM
Texas Tech at Utah	4	4.0	FOX	12:00 PM
Texas at Florida	6	4.0	ESPN	3:30 PM

Through 3 games, fsu is at 21.1M total viewership

in 2024, fsu was at 19.7M total viewership in 9 games.

Week 5 TV Ratings

 FSU has highest rated Friday night game in history

https://www.on3.com/boards/threads/fsu-virginia-tv-ratings.8322569/

From Stewart Mandel on X/Twitter

Most watched CFB games, Week 5:
Bama-UGA (ABC): 10.4M
Oregon-PSU (NBC): 8.8M
LSU-Ole Miss (ABC): 6.7M
Ohio St-Wash. (CBS): 5.2M
FSU-Va. (ESPN): 4.4M (Friday)
ND-Arkansas (ABC): 4.3M
USC-Illinois (FOX): 4.1M

.... if anyone is still wondering if Florida State is a marquee brand. The FSU-UVA game outdrew a Top 25 Big 10 matchup between USC and Illinois. It was also the highest-rated Friday night game in history. I know it was a standalone game, but it's not like college football fans are typically watching Friday games. that's not a viewing habit that's been formed. And yet FSU, playing an unranked (at the time) team, outdrew big, bad mighty USC.

https://csnbbs.com/thread-1018018-page-2.html

Update through week 6:

FSU:
Wk 1 v Alabama 3:30 ABC 10.4
Wk 5 v Virginia 7:00 (F) ESPN 4.395
Wk 6 v Miami 7:30 ABC 6.03
Total= 20.825m

Miami:
Wk 1 v ND 7:30 (Sun) ABC 10.8
Wk 3 v USF 4:30 CW 720k
Wk 4 v Florida 7:30 ABC 6.46
Wk 6 v FSU 7:30 ABC 6.03
Total= 24.01m

GT:
WK 1 v Colorado 8:00 (F) ESPN 3.74
Wk 3 v Clemson 12:00 ESPN 4.76
Wk 4 v Temple 4:30 CW 350k
Wk 5 v WF 12:00 ESPN 1.854
Total= 10.704m

Clemson:
Wk 1 v LSU 7:30 ABC 10.45
Wk 3 v GT 12:00 ESPN 4.76
Wk 4 v Syracuse 12:00 ESPN 3.39
Wi 6 v North Car. 12:00 ESPN 1.868
Total= 20.468

SMU:
Wk 2 v Baylor 12:00 CW 1.13
Wk 4 v TCU 12:00 ESPN2 662k
Total= 1.792m

Louisville:
Wk 2 v JMU 7:00 (F) ESPN2 893k
Wk 5 v Pitt 12:00 ESPN2 580k
Wk 6 v Virginia 3:30 ESPN2 603k
Total= 2.076m

NC:
Wk 1 v TCU 8:00 (Mon) ESPN 6.6
Wk 4 v UCF 3:30 FOX 2.035
Wk 6 v Clemson 12:00 ESPN 1.868
Total= 10.503m

Duke:
Wk 2 v Illinois 12:00 ESPN 2.18
Wk 3 v Tulane 8:00 ESPN2 224k
Wk 4 v NC State 4:00 ESPN2 663k
Wk 6 v Cal 10:30 ESPN 1.004
Total= 4.071m

NC State:
Wk 2 v Virginia 12:00 ESPN2 659k
Wk 3 v WF 7:30 (T) ESPN 1.18
Wk 4 v Duke 4:09 ESPN2 663k
Wk 5 v VT 7:00 CW 578k
Total= 3.08m

Virginia:
Wk 2 v NC State 12:00 ESPN2 659k
Wk 5 v FSU 7:00 (F) ESPN 4.395
Wk 6 v Louisville 3:30 ESPN2 603k
Total= 5.657

VT:
Wk 1 v South Car 3:00 ESPN 5.4
Wk 5 v NC State 7:00 CW 578k
Wk 6 v WF 1:00 CW 463k
Total= 6.441m

WF:
Wk 3 v NC State 7:30 (T) ESPN 1.18
Wk 5 v GT 12:00 ESPN 1.854
Wk 6 v VT 1:00 CW 463k
Total= 3.497m

Pitt:
Wk 2 v CMU 12:00 ESPNU 125k
Wk 3 v WV 3:30 ESPN 1.89
Wk 5 v Louisville 12:00 ESPN2 580k
Total= 2.595m

Syracuse:
Wk 1 v Tennessee 12:00 ABC 2.6
Wk 4 v Clemson 12:00 ESPN 3.39
Total= 5.99m

BC:
Wk 2 v Michigan St 7:30 NBC 1.75
Total= 1.75m

Stanford:
Wk 0 v Hawaii 7:30 CBS 1.338
Wk 2 v BYU 10:15 ESPN 1.21
Total= 2.548

Cal:
Wk 1 v Org State 10:30 ESPN 542k
Wk 3 v Minnesota 10:30 ESPN 958k
Wk 6 v Duke 10:30 ESPN 1.004
Total= 2.504m

Top 5
1 Miami 24.01m
2 FSU 20.825m
3 Clemson 20.468m
4 GT 10.704m
5 NC 10.503m

If you see anything that is not correct then please update.

Week 4 TV Ratings

 

FSU has been on TV Channels for Week 2 & 4 (3 was a bye) where their are no ratings available.  Just FYI.   Still like this tweek so providing anyway.

CFB ratings update:

—ABC has won every late afternoon and primetime window
—Big 12 with 2 wins in Big Noon
—Big Ten controlled game has not won a window since Week 1 pic.twitter.com/SY3QTEo5O6

— sportswithben (@sportswithben1) September 24, 2025

Here’s what the same chart looked like last year: pic.twitter.com/AILMDjC4vB

— sportswithben (@sportswithben1) September 24, 2025

Week 2 CFB TV Ratings (no (ESPNEWS, CBSSN, ACCN and SECN) and streaming services (ESPN+ and Peacock) )

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/CFB/comments/1nd32bi/michiganoklahoma_was_the_highestrated_game_of/

Highest-rated games of Week 2:

Reading is fundamental: "Viewership information for cable networks not measured by Nielsen (ESPNEWS, CBSSN, ACCN and SECN) and streaming services (ESPN+ and Peacock) are not included in this table."

1. Michigan-Oklahoma (ABC): 9.700M

2. Ole Miss-Kentucky (ABC): 4.800M

3. Iowa-Iowa State (FOX): 4.278M

4. San Jose State-Texas (ABC): 3.700M

5. Delaware-Colorado (FOX): 2.685M

6. Oklahoma State-Oregon (CBS): 2.320M

7. Illinois-Duke (ESPN): 2.007M

8. Grambling-Ohio State (BTN): 1.831M

9. Kansas-Missouri (ESPN2): 1.812M

10. Boston College-Michigan State (NBC): 1.643M

https://tvmediablog.substack.com/p/2025-college-football-week-2-viewership

Here are the highest rated games on ESPN2 for each week last season:

Week 14: Florida vs Florida St - 1.37m
Week 13: Temple vs UTSA - 512k
Week 12: Baylor vs West Virginia - 513k
Week 11: N Illinois vs W Michigan - 442k
Week 10: USF vs FAU - 562k
Week 9: Louisville vs Boston College - 879k
Week 8: WKU vs Sam Houston - 403k
Week 7: Coastal Carolina vs James Madison - 390k
Week 6: Pittsburgh vs North Carolina - 645k
Week 5: North Carolina vs Duke - 521k
Week 4: Kansas vs West Virginia - 1.15m
Week 3: West Virginia vs Pittsburgh - 1.15m
Week 2: California vs Auburn - 1.12m

CFB Tv Ratings thus Far-Pricing

Some commentary, Week one was probably the best ACC week EVER, it was really huge.

As I've commented constantly, the NBC and CBS B10 contracts SUCK. The B10 horrifically needs brands. This is the main reason why I've flipped 180 to the SEC if the B10 can't get FSU ND AND CLEMSON. They just don't have the brands outside the top 5 to carry tv ratings EVERY week. Ohio St playing the b10 noon game EVERY week for 6 consecutive weeks last year was not a fluke.

ESPN ratings have SKYROCKETED this year. Week 1 and week 2 games will become a staple because you can play the brands before they have a losing season, if they are bad. I predicted several years ago that bowls would become kickoff games at some point rather than post season games.

https://tvmediablog.substack.com/p/2025-college-football-viewership

https://hooplanation.com/threads/2025-college-football-tv-ratings.28533/

Nielsen, the company behind TV ratings, has expanded its out-of-home measurement to cover every market in the United States. That means the millions of fans who gather in bars, restaurants, gyms and even at friends’ houses on Saturdays will finally be counted.

Until now, Nielsen’s out-of-home tracking only covered about two-thirds of markets. The new coverage now counts markets like Madison, South Bend and State College, each home to historic programs with passionate fans.

Ole Miss, Wisconsin, Notre Dame, Penn State, Florida State, LSU, Oregon, Auburn and Tennessee are among the schools expected to see their ratings rise. Early data suggests ratings for some programs could jump by as much as 7 percent in national windows.

Beyond out-of-home expansion, Nielsen is rolling out Big Data + Panel across the board. The system combines traditional panel data with massive datasets from set-top boxes and smart TVs in 45 million households. Nielsen CEO Karthik Rao has called it “the most accurate TV measurement to date.”