FOX Sports College Football Coverage Posts Impressive Ratings & Viewership Increases in 2015

New York – FOX Sports posted big ratings increases during the 2015 college football season, led by last weekend’s Big Ten Championship Game, in which Michigan State’s dramatic 16-13 win over previously undefeated Iowa clinched the Spartans a spot in the College Football Playoff. The game attracted 9.8 million viewers and a 5.7/11 household rating/share, helping college football games on FOX finish the season up +19% in rating (1.9 vs. 1.6) and up +15% in viewership (3.0 million vs. 2.6 million). Combined, college football games featuring the Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12 and Conference USA on FOX and FS1 posted an average viewership increase of +12% this season over 2014.

The 2015 Big Ten Championship Game on FOX, played Saturday, Dec. 5, out-rated the other college football conference championship games in the same time slot by wide margins, including beating the ACC Championship Game on ABC by +42% in audience (9.8 million vs. 6.9 million) and +39% in rating (5.7 vs. 4.1). The household rating for the 2015 Big Ten Championship Game is up +63% over last year’s affair (5.7 vs. 3.5), and +61% in audience (9.8 million vs. 6.1 million), a lopsided victory for Ohio State.

This season, The FOX broadcast network saw its highest-rated and most-watched regular season game ever, with Stanford’s nail-biting 38-36 win over Notre Dame on Saturday, Nov. 28, which posted a 4.3/11 with more than 7.3 million viewers. The Big 12 also continued to attract big numbers, led by Baylor at Oklahoma State on FOX Saturday, Nov. 21, which recorded a 2.6/5 and 4.3 million viewers, at the time ranking as the network’s most-watched game of the season.

FS1 opened the 2015 campaign on Thursday, Sept. 3, with the highest-rated, most-watched game in the channel’s history – Utah’s 24-17 win over Michigan in Jim Harbaugh’s debut as the Wolverines’ head coach. The game posted a 1.73 household rating with more than 2.8 million viewers.