- 7 Oregon at No. 5 Michigan State was Most-Watched Game Followed by No. 9 Notre Dame at Virginia, No. 19 Oklahoma at No. 23 Tennessee, No. 14 LSU at No. 25 Mississippi State
- Viewership Soars through First Two Weeks
- WatchESPN: 2015 Season Scores Two Best College Football Regular-Season Weeks Ever, Week 2 Helps Deliver Most-Streamed Day Since 2014 World Cup
Coming off a record-breaking opening week of the 2015 College Football season, ESPN continued the momentum by airing television’s four most-watched games of Week 2, led by ABC Saturday Night Football featuring then-No. 7 Oregon at No. 5 Michigan State on ABC at 8 p.m. ET (7,898,000 viewers). Additionally, on WatchESPN, the season’s first top-10 matchup had an average minute audience of 81,000 users totaling 18,400,000 live minutes viewed, both Week 2 highs.
No. 9 Notre Dame’s come-from-behind victory at Virginia on ABC at 3:30 p.m. ET was the week’s second most-watched game (5,744,000 viewers) followed by No. 19 Oklahoma at No. 23 Tennessee on ESPN at 6 p.m. (4,129,000 viewers), and No. 14 LSU at No. 25 Mississippi State on ESPN at 9:15 p.m. (3,121,000 viewers). The Sooners-Volunteers double overtime-thriller was up 14% (3,632,000 viewers) from their 2014 matchup (Sept. 13 at 8 p.m. on ABC).
Please note: Oregon State at Michigan (Noon on ABC) viewership number is not available until Thur, Sept. 17, and thus not accounted for in this release. All games referenced were on Sat, Sept. 12.
ESPN Season to Date
ESPN/ABC has televised the five most-watched games of 2015 season and year-to-date average viewership is up 23% compared to the first two weeks of last season
2015 Top Games All Networks
| Rank | Viewership | Date | Time (ET) | Game | Network |
| 1. | 10,585,000 | Mon, Sept. 7 | 8 p.m. | No. 1 Ohio State at Virginia Tech | ESPN |
| 2. | 7,967,000 | Sat, Sept 5 | 8 p.m. | No. 20 Wisconsin vs. No. 3 Alabama | ABC |
| 3. | 7,898,000 | Sat, Sept. 12 | 8 p.m. | No. 7 Oregon at No. 5 Michigan State | ABC |
| 4. | 5,744,000 | Sat, Sept.12 | 3:30 p.m. | No. 9 Notre Dame at Virginia | ABC |
| 5. | 4,129,000 | Sat, Sept. 12 | 6 p.m. | No. 19 Oklahoma at No. 23 Tennessee | ESPN |
2015 vs. 2014
| Year | Number of Games | Viewership |
| 2015 | 36* | 2,072,000 |
| 2014 | 38 | 1,691,000 |
*Fewer games due to addition of US Open coverage
Across all ESPN networks and ABC (through two weeks)
WatchESPN Opens the Season with its Two Most-Streamed Regular-Season College Football Weekends and Achieves Record Day
On the heels of a record-setting opening week on WatchESPN, it achieved its second most-streamed college football regular-season week ever (Sept. 10 – Sept. 12) when 2,200,000 unique devices streamed a total of 193.8 million live minutes – up 87% and 103%, respectively, from week 2 of last season.
Additionally, Sat, Sept. 12, was the most streamed day for WatchESPN since the 2014 World Cup with 2,500,000 unique devices streaming 213,700,000 live minutes when factoring in all sports.
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Media contact: Derek Volner at 860-384-9986; Derek.Volner@ESPN.com and @DerekVolner
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