The College GameDay program on ESPN attained its most-watched regular season in the 38-year history of the show, averaging 2.2 million viewers per episode and attracting large crowds at universities around the country. The pregame show broadcast internationally for the first time and visited college campuses from around the country where it preceded broadcasts of marquee matchups across various power conferences. As a whole, the show garnered a 6% year-over-year increase and is up 5% from the previous season high. Moreover, College GameDay had four telecasts that averaged more than 2.3 million viewers and reached 30 million total viewers on the season.
The program experienced a 34% year-over-year rise in viewership among the age 18-24 demographic and also drew many college students to watch the show live. Furthermore, the adults 18-34 demographic was up 14% year-over-year. The most-watched show of the 2024 season came in Week 1 from College Station, Texas, which averaged 2.5 million viewers and was the most-viewed pre-November episode in the history of the show. Five episodes also reached 3 million viewers in the final hour this season, including broadcasts from Texas, Ohio State, Oregon and Texas A&M. The final episode of the regular season, which aired ahead of the SEC Championship Game, averaged 2.1 million viewers and was its best conference championship episode since 2010.
Rece Davis hosted the program for a 10th season with analysts Desmond Howard, Pat McAfee, Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit featuring college football insider Pete Thamel and reporters Jen Lada and Jess Sims. This season marked the first year with former Alabama Crimson Tide head football coach Nick Saban serving as an analyst on the panel as well as part of his deal with ESPN.
Corso made his 425th headgear pick to close out the regular season and finished with a 9-3 overall record. Furthermore, Davis finished as the SuperDog Champion with 91.5 points, while Saban finished in second with 89 points. ‘Stanford’ Steve Coughlin, who joined the program last season, accrued a 27-17 record for his weekly game picks. Among the celebrity guest pickers, Philadelphia Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber finished with an 8-1 record at his Week 9 appearance from Bloomington, Ind., the best mark among all participants. McAfee gave away $1.77 million of his own money within the second season of his Kicking Contest, including $1.15 million donated to charity.
On social media platforms, College GameDay recorded triple-digit year-over-year increases in total engagements (101.1 million, +134% YoY), along with total impressions (1.7 billion, +149% YoY) and video views (1.1 billion, +180% YoY). Social media accounts for the show have proliferated to 8.3 million followers across platforms, indicative of a 7% year-over-year increase. The digital program, Countdown to GameDay, collected 1.7 million views for the season, a 563% rise from the previous year.
ESPN College GameDay returns for the 12-team College Football Playoff broadcasting two editions of the show on the road starting on Friday, Dec. 20. After broadcasting from South Bend, Ind. from 3:30 to 8 p.m. EST ahead of Notre Dame-Indiana, the team travels to Columbus, Ohio for Ohio State-Tennessee. The program will be on the air during its usual 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. EST timeslot on Saturday morning. College GameDay will then broadcast from the College Football Playoff Quarterfinal at the Rose Bowl Game on New Year’s Day from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. EST.
The show will air live from the location of both semifinal games, the first of which takes place from the Capital One Orange Bowl on Thursday, Jan. 9 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. EST. At the same time the next day, the program will be at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic. The College Football Playoff concludes with the National Championship Game from Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Ga. on Monday, Jan. 20 with an episode from 5 to 7:30 p.m. EST ahead of kickoff.
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