ESPN Networks have delivered yet another year of solid ratings for their College Football coverage.
ESPN networks were up from both 2019 and 2020, with ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 averaging 1,976,000 viewers, up 19 percent from 2020 and two percent from 2019.
ABC registered its most-watched season since 2017, averaging 4,042,000 viewers this season, up 25 percent from 2020 and two percent from 2019. ABC also aired the most-viewed game in more Saturday windows (16 of 42) than any other network.
ESPN averaged 1,733,000 viewers in 2021, up 16 percent from 2020 and on par with 2019. ESPN2 experienced its most-watched season since 2018, up 65 percent from 2020 and a 27 percent increase from 2019. On average, games on ESPN2 recorded 643,000 viewers this season.
ABC’s Saturday Night Football averaged more than 5 million viewers this season, and was up a drastic 36 percent from 2020 and on par with 2018 and 2019. ESPN networks were the most-viewed network in primetime 11 times this season. ABC’s late afternoon window as well as their noon window also experienced multi-year growth.
College Football studio shows also experienced a great year, as College Gameday averaged 1,880,000 viewers, up 39 percent from 2020. If College GameDay was a game window, it would be the third-most-watched game window on cable, showing a great success as the preeminent pre-game show on cable.
2021 also represented the highest streaming numbers in the history of ESPN. 3.9 billion minutes of live college football games were streamed across ESPN networks, up 37 percent from 2020 and 8 percent from 2019.
All across the board ESPN has to be happy with how 2021 has went in terms of their coverage of College Football.