The first round of the College Football Playoff included teams from various power conferences facing off to earn a spot in the quarterfinals. Operating in an expanded 12-team format for the first time, games encompassing the opening action averaged 10.6 million viewers on ABC, ESPN, TNT and Max. The top college football game over the weekend between the Tennessee Volunteers and Ohio State Buckeyes averaged 14.3 million viewers in prime time television Saturday night on ABC and ESPN.
This matchup was the second most-watched college football game of the 2024 season and also peaked at 16.5 million viewers, according to data from Nielsen Media Research. Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Holly Rowe were on the call for the matchup from Ohio Stadium in Columbus. The trio will return for the quarterfinal at the Rose Bowl Game on Wednesday, Jan. 1 at 5 p.m. EST on ESPN.
Disney platforms aired the Friday night prime time matchup between the Indiana Hoosiers and Notre Dame Fighting Irish, which averaged 13.4 million viewers on ABC and ESPN. The game was the third most-watched college football contest of the 2024 season and peaked with a total of 14.8 million viewers. Sean McDonough, Greg McElroy, Molly McGrath and Katie George called the game from Notre Dame Stadium. McDonough, McElroy and McGrath will work together for the quarterfinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl on Wednesday, Jan. 1 at 8:45 p.m. EST on ESPN.
As part of a five-year sublicensing agreement with ESPN, TNT Sports presented two first-round College Football Playoff games this season, beginning with the matchup between the SMU Mustangs and Penn State Nittany Lions. The Saturday afternoon game averaged 6.4 million viewers, the second most-viewed TNT Sports college football game on record. This broadcast, which featured ESPN commentators Mark Jones, Roddy Jones and Quint Kessenich, peaked with 7.9 million viewers.
Later in the day, TNT Sports aired its most-watched college football game and December sporting event on record when the Clemson Tigers faced the Texas Longhorns. The tilt averaged 8.6 million viewers on TNT and Max, marking the most-watched December sports and entertainment program on TNT, TBS and truTV in the past 23 years. Dave Pasch, Dusty Dvoracek and Taylor McGregor and Laura Rutledge were on the call for the game, which peaked with 9.5 million viewers.
These two first-round CFP contests are the most-watched college football games of the season on cable television. Moreover, Clemson-Texas finished as the most-watched sporting event for TNT Sports since the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship Game between UConn and Purdue. For the Saturday schedule as a whole, it marks the first time that there had been games within the College Football Playoff or New Year’s Six in afternoon broadcasting windows coinciding with NFL matchups.
The Walt Disney Company is in its penultimate season under its existing media rights deal with the College Football Playoff. Earlier in the year, the company reached a new agreement to air games for all rounds of the tournament, along with ancillary programming, simulcasting and MegaCast abilities through the 2031-32 season. The company will reportedly pay $1.3 billion a year for this deal, part of which will have the National Championship Game air on ABC with the ESPN MegaCast presentation as well.
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