November Games Propel Big Ten Football
November 30, 2001 | Football
The excitement and interest in the 2001 Big Ten football race was evident not only in the 1.55 million fans who packed Big Ten stadiums in November alone, but in the 25,000,000-plus households who turned on their television sets to watch Big Ten football on ABC Sports, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN Regional Television from Nov. 3 through Nov. 24, 2001.
Of the 22 Big Ten football games played in November, 18 were televised and 10 were sold out. The average per-game football attendance figure for November was 70,373.
Metered market ratings for the four Big Ten games televised by ABC Sports from Nov. 3 through Nov. 24 achieved a 5.6 average, 30.2 percent higher than the 4.3 average of the 10 Big Ten games telecast by ABC prior to Oct. 27.
Detroit (10.8) and Columbus (10.1) rank second and third respectively in college football average ratings. Oklahoma City is the No. 1 ranked market (14.1). Detroit rated 28.2 for the Nov. 3 Michigan at Michigan State, and 25.0 for the Nov. 24 Ohio State at Michigan game. Columbus did a 38.6 rating for the Ohio State-Michigan game, ABC 's lone Ohio State November appearance.
Big Ten ratings on ESPN rose 3.5 percent in 2001 compared to 2000. ESPN's coverage of the Nov. 17 Illinois at Ohio State game (2.48) and Nov. 24 Penn State at Michigan State (2.26) games were 26.7 percent higher than the last two Big Ten games televised by ESPN during the 2000 season (Penn State at Michigan-1.8; Ohio State at Illinois-1.94).
More than 19.1 million households tuned in to Big Ten football games on ESPN during the 2001 season, with nearly 7.6 million households watching four November games. One ESPN rating point equals one percent of ESPN's 85.3 million household universe.
The 2.26 ESPN rating for the Nov. 24, 2001 Penn State at Michigan State game was ESPN's highest late afternoon college football rating since 1995.
The four November Big Ten games cablecast by ESPN2 had an average 1.12 rating, 60 percent higher than the 0.70 rating of the two games shown by ESPN2 during the 2000 season. One ESPN2 rating point equals one percent of ESPNs'2 81.4 million household universe.
