• ESPN platforms deliver best season since 2016
• ABC’s most-watched season in 15 years
• Milestones in digital and streaming engagement

ESPN platforms delivered record-breaking college football viewership in 2024, with ABC being the No. 1 broadcaster for college football this season, averaging 5.8 million viewers for 46 regular-season games, an impressive increase of 56 percent over the previous year and ABC’s best performance equals college football season in 15 years (since 2009). ESPN platforms achieved their most-watched season since 2016, averaging 1.9 million viewers per game across all Nielsen-rated networks (ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU) – a 19 percent increase compared to last year.

ABC is college football’s top network
ABC reached historic milestones in 2024: Viewers watched 58 billion minutes of live college football, more than ever before by a single network in a regular season. Additionally, the inaugural season of SEC on ABC was a proven winner, averaging 6.4 million viewers per game, with the top SEC on ABC game averaging 7.9 million viewers each Saturday.

ABC’s primetime and late afternoon slots have the two most-watched Saturday slots of any network or media company, outperforming competitors by more than double in primetime and more than 60 percent in late afternoon. ABC’s Football on Saturday evening The franchise established itself as the sport’s top viewership, averaging 7.4 million viewers, the best of any network since 2008, an 89 percent increase over the previous year. The late afternoon window (3:30 p.m. ET) drew 5.9 million viewers, up 49 percent from last year, and became the second most-watched Saturday window in the sport this year. ABC became the most-watched network in college football, drawing 85 percent more viewers than any competitor and nearly matching all other networks combined in terms of total minutes consumed.

ESPN Networks welcomes viewers at home
ESPN and ABC demonstrated their leadership as the home of college football by airing the most-watched game in 71 percent of Saturday slots, including 50 percent of midday games, 79 percent of late afternoon games and 86 percent of primetime games. ESPN and ABC also presented many of the sport’s blockbuster matches, delivering four of the top five, 15 of the top 20 and 35 of the top 50 most-watched games that season, including the 19 most-watched cable games.

Additionally, ten games across all networks attracted more than 9 million viewers, the highest number in nearly three decades. ESPN’s platforms broadcast five of those games, marking their strongest performance since 2008. The networks measured by ESPN also accounted for 57 percent of live college football game minutes viewed across all Nielsen-rated networks, the highest Share of the company since 2018.

ESPN+ scores most-watched season ever
The season also brought notable digital and streaming milestones. ESPN+ had the most-watched college football season ever, with viewership increasing 58 percent and engagement increasing 231 percent. Engagement with college football content on ESPN Digital also reached a record high, with daily average unique viewers increasing 8 percent year-over-year.

Individual game highlights

• ABC’s Georgia-Texas showdown in Week 8: 13.2 million viewers, the most-watched game of the season and the highest primetime audience of any network since 2014 (excluding conference championships). The same two teams meet Saturday in the SEC Championship Game on ABC.
• Historic doubleheader: ABC’s Week 8 featured two games with more than 10 million viewers, a first on a network since 1996 – Georgia-Texas (13.2 million) and Alabama-Tennessee (10.8 million).
• Rivalries at their peak: Clashes like Texas-Texas A&M (9.5 million viewers), Georgia-Georgia Tech (8.5 million viewers) and Florida-Georgia (7.4 million viewers) earned their highest viewership numbers ever.
• Additional spotlights
  • Week 0
    • Florida State-Georgia Tech (5.0 million viewers) The Aer Lingus Classic in Ireland was the most watched week 0 game since 2019 and the top game on cable this season.
    • ABC’s MEAC/SWAC Challenge (1.3 million viewers) attracted the largest audience ever.
  • Week 1
    • North Dakota State-Colorado (4.8 million viewers) was ESPN’s most-watched Thursday opener since 2017.
    • USC-LSU (9.2 million viewers) was ABC’s third-best Sunday opener of all time.
  • Week 5
    • Virginia Tech-Miami (3.3 million viewers) was ESPN’s second most-watched Friday game since 2018.
    • ABC’s Alabama-Georgia (12.0 million viewers) was, at the time, the best regular season game on ESPN’s platforms since 2017.
  • Week 7
    • Kansas State-Colorado (3.3 million viewers) was the most-watched late-night game of the season and the third-best on any network in more than a decade.
  • Week 8
    • ABC’s Week 8 Alabama-Tennessee (10.8 million viewers) was ABC’s most-watched late afternoon game since 2015.
  • Week 12
    • ABC’s Tennessee-Georgia (10.0 million viewers) is the fifth most watched game this season.

Source: Nielsen Panel + Adobe Analytics for ABC Noon/330/Sunday Primetime