For the second straight week, a Notre Dame game with a team from the state of Michigan did extremely well in the ratings. Last week, it was Michigan and Notre Dame's game on NBC that scored well in the ratings thanks to an intriguing matchup and an exciting finish. This week, it was more of the same, this time for ABC's Saturday Night Football. An intriguing matchup and another exciting finish produced the night's top ratings.
↵↵↵It was the rare Notre Dame Saturday Night College Football game on ABC (vs. NBC) that pushed the network to the top of the TV ratings race on Saturday night. (while most of the country saw Notre Dame v. Michigan State, some had Texas v. Texas Tech).
↵That nightly ratings average for ABC was 64% better than last Saturday’s NASCAR race.
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Conclusions that can be drawn from this: Notre Dame is a ratings-grabbing team, no matter what their record may be; exciting games draw viewers, as more and more people tuned in as the night progressed; and ABC/ESPN should rethink broadcasting NASCAR instead of college football. I imagine it's included in the contract since it was the final race before the Chase for the Cup, but ABC/ESPN would be wise to find a way to only broadcast college football in that timeslot. People tune in to ABC on Saturday nights expecting to see college football, and the ratings do well because of it, especially when you get a game like the one we saw between Michigan State and Notre Dame.