Within a wild season that has given us one-win Florida State, zero-loss Army and Vanderbilt over Alabama, at least one conclusion seems safe. Disney is clobbering Fox.
In the era of engorged conferences and expanded playoffs, the media giants that bankroll college football have competed for ratings and relevance with both game broadcasts and shoulder programming.
The SEC serves as the primary vessel for Disney’s properties, ABC and ESPN, while the Big Ten provides Fox with much of its A-level inventory.
From our corner of the galaxy, the game-above-the-game has not been close.
ABC and ESPN have aired better matchups than Fox, generated higher ratings and owned the pregame programming turf with ‘College GameDay’ outperforming Fox’s ‘Big Noon Kickoff.’
The competition was on display Saturday morning, with both pregame shows broadcasting live from Happy Valley ahead of the Penn State-Ohio State duel. With thousands of fans in the background of the ‘GameDay’ set, personality Pat McAfee fired a salvo at ESPN’s competitor.
“I don’t think there’s any people at their set,” McAfee bellowed about ‘Big Noon Kickoff.’ “That’s on them, not on us.”
(The comment wasn’t accurate. There were fans at the ‘Big Noon Kickoff’ set.)
McAfee occasionally adds value to ‘GameDay’ and rarely detracts from the broadcast. The true revelation this year has been Nick Saban, whose wit and insight elevates the show. The former Alabama coach is far superior to his ‘Big Noon’ counterpart, Urban Meyer. Nor does Fox have an answer to McAfee’s energy or Kirk Herbstreit’s insight.
The ‘GameDay’ decision to visit Beaver Stadium was, unto itself, revealing.
The showdown of Big Ten heavyweights was on Fox, not a Disney network, but ‘GameDay’ is committed to broadcasting from the site of the best game and biggest story of the week.
Fox’s pregame show does not. ‘Big Noon Kickoff’ is used primarily to promote Fox games, not chronicle the sport.
The same Saturday that ‘GameDay’ aired live from Eugene ahead of the Oregon-Ohio State collision (on NBC), Fox sent ‘Big Noon Kickoff’ to Arizona-Brigham Young.
When ‘GameDay’ picked Georgia-Texas for its broadcast location, ‘Big Noon Kickoff’ selected Indiana-Nebraska.
When ‘GameDay’ went to Georgia-Alabama, ‘Big Noon’ picked Colorado-UCF.
And this week, ‘GameDay’ will air live from Alabama-LSU while ‘Big Noon’ visits Colorado-Texas Tech.
‘Big Noon Kickoff’ goes where the Fox broadcasts go. ‘GameDay’ goes where the biggest stories are.
And the ratings have followed.
‘GameDay’ is averaging 2.2 million viewers, according to ESPN — an eight percent year-over-year increase that puts the show on pace for its best season ever. (The first on-campus broadcast was in 1993.)
Fox doesn’t typically release ratings for ‘Big Noon Kickoff,’ which is, well, telling.
The ratings game
The high-stake competition between Fox and Disney is far more lopsided, and quantifiable, with regard to game broadcasts.
The Hotline examined viewership data for games that have generated at least six million viewers thus far. There have been 16, broken down in this manner (according to data on the SportsMediaWatch website):
CBS: one
NBC: one
Fox: two
ABC: 12
The most-watched game of the season, with 13.19 million viewers, is the Georgia-Texas showdown (ABC) from mid-October.
The Ohio State-Michigan rivalry on Fox at the end of the season could establish a new mark. It drew 19.07 viewers last year, after all. But given the Big Ten and SEC schedules over the final four weeks, there is no scenario in which Fox can come close to matching ABC’s total of six-million viewer games.
News, notes and nuggets
— Ohio State’s victory at Penn State drew 9.94 million viewers, the largest audience of the season for Fox and the Big Ten. The previous high for the conference was 9.6 million for Ohio State-Oregon (on NBC).
— Colorado’s visit to Texas Tech on Saturday will air on Fox at 1 p.m. (Pacific), marking the sixth time in nine games the Buffaloes will appear on broadcast television.
— ABC will air an SEC tripleheader on Saturday — that’s 11 consecutive hours of “it just means more” programming — beginning with Florida-Texas at 9 a.m., followed by Georgia-Mississippi and Alabama-LSU.
Viewer’s guide to Week 11
Saturday is relatively light on marquee matchups with the exception of the duel in Baton Rouge. Thankfully, Week 11 features the return of an #AfterDark game, courtesy of the Holy War, after a one-week break from the 7 p.m. (or later) kickoffs.
(All times Pacific)
Georgia at Mississippi (12:30 p.m. on ABC): The Dawgs, who have narrowly avoided several upsets thus far, face a desperate opponent. The two-loss Rebels cannot afford a third defeat in their playoff pursuit. TV crew: Sean McDonough, Greg McElroy and Molly McGrath
Army at North Texas (12:30 p.m. on ESPN2): With a victory, the Black Knights would take an undefeated record into their Nov. 23 showdown with Notre Dame at Yankee Stadium. And what a story that would be. TV crew: Mike Monaco, Kirk Morrison and Dawn Davenport
Colorado at Texas Tech (1 p.m. on Fox): This stands as the toughest remaining game for the Buffaloes as they push for a berth in the Big 12 championship (which would place them one victory from the CFP). TV crew: Jason Benetti, Brock Huard and Allison Williams
Alabama at LSU (4:30 p.m. on ABC): A matchup of two-loss teams under the lights in Death Valley. If Alabama comes up short, coach Kalen DeBoer will return to an inferno in Tuscaloosa. TV crew: Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Holly Rowe
Brigham Young at Utah (7:15 p.m. on ESPN): A heated rivalry filled with upsets and close games returns after a two-year hiatus. Can the Utes derail BYU’s undefeated season and salvage their own? TV crew: Dave Flemming, Brock Osweiler and Stormy Buonantony
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