ABC had two of college football’s top Week 8 matchups and, as could be expected, the TV ratings for each game yielded huge numbers.
Saturday’s marquee prime-time matchup between then-No. 5 Georgia and No. 1 Texas at 7:30 p.m. ET drew an average of 12.9 million viewers with a peak at 14.1 million, according to ESPN. That’s the highest audience for a college football game this season and is the biggest peak viewership for a regular season college football broadcast on ESPN platforms since 2016.
The Bulldogs won the game, 30-15, and moved up to No. 2 in this week’s AP Top 25.
The other top SEC clash pitting then-No. 7 Alabama versus No. 11 Tennessee at 3:30 p.m. ET averaged 10.7 million viewers and peaked at 14.7 million. That’s the second-highest audience for a game between the Crimson Tide and the Volunteers, topped only by 2022’s matchup on CBS which averaged 11.5 million viewers and peaked at 16.5 million.
The Volunteers won, 24-17, and jumped four spots up to No. 7.
The Georgia-Texas broadcast topped the previous high rating for the 2024-25 season, Week 5’s Georgia-Alabama tilt. Also an ABC prime-time SEC matchup, that clash drew an average viewership of 11.99 million, according to Sports Media Watch. Alabama-Tennessee currently has the third-highest audience of the season.
ABC’s Week 8 SEC doubleheader was the first time a network broadcasted two games on the same day with audiences over 10 million since 1996. Reaching ratings not seen in 28 years is what ABC and ESPN had in mind when paying more than $300 million for the SEC football broadcast package.
