The 2023 college football regular season is at its midpoint -- seven weeks down, seven weeks to go, including Championship Saturday.
So I thought it'd be a good time to see how college football is performing as a television product, since that's how the sport is viewed by the executives who run it.
A study of the television ratings is a study of brands. The most frequently-watched programs are Alabama, Notre Dame, Ohio State... and Colorado. The Prime Effect was the story of the season through September, with each of the Buffaloes' first five games ranking among the nine most-watched games of the season's first half, including two of the top three. Oregon's 42-6 drubbing of Colorado is the only game thus far to top 10 million viewers, according to Nielsen.
It remains to be seen how enduring Deion Sanders's brand will remain now that: A) the new-ness has worn off, B) Colorado is struggling on the field, and C) the Buffs' schedule is not as enticing, particularly as the Playoff race takes over and competition picks up elsewhere. Colorado's collapse against Stanford drew 3.29 million, still a huge audience for a Friday night game but also the smallest Nielsen-tracked audience of the season.
Meanwhile, the Big Ten figures to be a major factor down the stretch. The conference's three biggest brands are all undefeated and ranked among the top 10, and all have yet to play each other. The battle for the final Big Ten East championship begins Saturday with No. 7 Penn State at No. 3 Ohio State. Penn State hosts No. 2 Michigan on Nov. 11, and Michigan hosts Ohio State on Nov. 25. All three games will air in Fox's Big Noon Kickoff window.
In total, 26 games have crossed 4 million viewer threshold (Texas A&M-Miami got 4.02 million in Week 2). Twenty-one games drew at least 4 million over the first seven weeks of 2022, 22 did so in 2021, 20 in 2019, and 18 did in 2018. All data via Sports Media Watch.
Appearances by program:
5: Colorado
4: Alabama, Notre Dame
3: Ohio State
2: Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia, Nebraska, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, USC
Appearances by conference (2023 alignment):
1. SEC -- 15
2. Pac-12 -- 10
3. Big Ten -- 8
4. ACC -- 7
5. Big 12 -- 4
6. American, Mountain West -- 1
The Prime Effect accounts for all six Big 12 appearances, when counting by 2024 alignment: five Colorado games, plus TCU's appearance against Colorado in Week 1.
Appearances by conference (2024 alignment):
1. SEC -- 18
2. Big Ten -- 13
3. ACC -- 7
4. Big 12 -- 6
5. American, Mountain West -- 1
Appearances by network:
1. ABC -- 8
2. Fox -- 6
3. CBS -- 5
4. ESPN -- 4
5. NBC -- 2
The top 25:
1. Colorado-Oregon -- 10.03 million (ABC)
2. Ohio State-Notre Dame -- 9.98 million (NBC)
3. Colorado State-Colorado -- 9.3 million (ESPN)
4. LSU-Florida State -- 9.17 million (ABC)
5. Texas-Alabama -- 8.76 million (ESPN)
6. Nebraska-Colorado -- 8.73 million (Fox)
7. Oklahoma-Texas -- 7.87 million (ABC)
8. Colorado-TCU -- 7.26 million (Fox)
9. USC-Colorado -- 7.24 million (Fox)
10. Alabama-Texas A&M -- 7.23 million (CBS)
11. Oregon-Washington -- 7.04 million (ABC)
12. Florida State-Clemson -- 6.71 million (ABC)
13. USC-Notre Dame -- 6.43 million (NBC)
14. Georgia-Auburn -- 6.40 million (CBS)
15. South Carolina-Georgia -- 5.42 million (CBS)
16. Notre Dame-Duke -- 5.32 million (ABC)
17. Tennessee-Florida -- 5.31 million (ESPN)
18. Notre Dame-Louisville -- 5.12 million (ABC)
19. Alabama-South Florida -- 4.84 million (ABC)
20. Ohio State-Indiana -- 4.65 million (Fox)
21. Ole Miss-Alabama -- 4.61 million (CBS)
22. Maryland-Ohio State -- 4.51 million (Fox)
23. Michigan-Nebraska -- 4.48 million (Fox)
24. Clemson-Duke -- 4.39 million (ESPN)
25. Texas A&M-Tennessee -- 4.38 million (CBS)
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.