Florida State at Louisville Delivers Significant Audience Across Platforms
- College Football’s Second-Most Watched Week 3 Game Across All Networks
- ESPN’s Streaming Sees Record Usage on Saturday
Florida State at Louisville (noon on ABC) had a total live audience (TV + Streaming) of 6,376,000 average viewers, the second-most watched college football game across all networks in college football’s week 3 and up 148% over the comparable window last season (Air Force at Michigan State). ABC’s television audience of 6,216,000 average viewers was the largest audience for an early-season* noon kickoff window since 2003** on an ESPN network and the second largest in 20 years.
Florida State-Louisville Becomes a Top ESPN Streamed Game
ESPN’s stream of the Cardinals’ 63-20 win had an average minute audience of 160,000 viewers*** and a total of 679,000 unique viewers, a top 5 regular season game ever for ESPN streaming in both categories.
Additionally, three of ESPN streaming’s top 5 most-watched regular season college football games have occurred in the first three weeks of this season – based on both average minute audience and unique viewers.
| Rank | AMA | Game | Date |
| 1. | 231,000 viewers | Ole Miss vs. Florida State | Sept. 5, 2016 |
| 2. | 194,000 viewers | Notre Dame at Texas | Sept. 4, 2016 |
| 3. | 175,000 viewers | Ohio State at Virginia Tech | Sept. 7, 2015 |
| 4. | 167,000 viewers | Michigan State at Michigan | Oct. 17, 2015 |
| 5. | 160,000 viewers | Florida State at Louisville | Sept. 18, 2016 |
Based on average minute audience
| Rank | Unique Viewers | Game | Date |
| 1. | 854,000 viewers | Ole Miss vs. Florida State | Sept. 5, 2016 |
| 2. | 786,000 viewers | Notre Dame at Texas | Sept. 4, 2016 |
| 3. | 697,000 viewers | Michigan State at Michigan | Oct. 17, 2015 |
| 4. | 679,000 viewers | Florida State at Louisville | Sept. 18, 2016 |
| 5. | 670,000 viewers | Florida at LSU | Oct. 17, 2015 |
Based on unique viewers
Louisville Sets Local Record
Louisville achieved a 28.6 local rating, the market’s best ever for a regular season game on an ESPN network on record****, surpassing Louisville at Kentucky on September 14, 2013 (26.0 rating). Additionally, Louisville was the highest-rated market for the game:
Florida State at Louisville Top 5 Markets
| Rank | Rating | Market |
| 1 | Louisville | 28.6 |
| 2 | Birmingham | 13.3 |
| 3 | Jacksonville | 12.8 |
| 4 | Columbus | 9.4 |
| 5 | Atlanta | 8.7 |
Additional ESPN/ABC Week 3 Highlights
ESPN’s Streaming Sets New College Football Usage Record
More than 2,500,000 unique viewers streamed college football via ESPN’s platforms on Saturday, Sept. 17, the most-ever for a regular season college football Saturday and up 55% over week 3 last season.
American Conference Sets New Thursday Audience Record
Thursday’s Houston at Cincinnati game (7:30 p.m. on ESPN) earned a total live audience of 2,226,000 average viewers, the most-watched Thursday game on ESPN featuring an American conference team. The Cougars’ victory was up 12% to the comparable window last season (Clemson at Louisville).
*Early season = September
**Regionalized window featuring NC State-Ohio State and Arkansas-Texas
***Please note: This was an increase from the 158,000 average minute audience that was reported on Sunday. Increase is due to additional processing
****Local ratings date back to 2004 for ABC and 2000 for ESPN and ESPN2
Florida State at Louisville was played on Saturday, Sept. 17; Houston at Cincinnati was played on Thursday, Sept. 15
-30-
Media contact: Derek Volner at 860-384-9986; [email protected] and @DerekVolner
