ESPN College Football Averages 2.2 Million Viewers Through Week 7

ESPN networks averaged 2.2 million viewers across 120 college football games through Week 7, the company reported October 23. ESPN called it its second-best start to a college football season since 2011, with the audience 15% above the comparable point in 2024.

The package covers games on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU. ABC’s 23 games averaged 6.8 million viewers, which ESPN described as on par with last season and 26% above the same point two years ago.

ABC’s Saturday primetime window averaged 9.0 million viewers, up 10% year over year. ESPN said that was a record through Week 7 for a single window with at least three games played.

The figures use Nielsen Big Data + Panel. Each is an average for its stated game package or window; the ABC measures are subsets of the wider ESPN networks package. Adding them together would double-count overlapping coverage.

The new season-package ratings records remain separate from individual-game audiences. The report’s cutoff is Week 7; it does not include the following Saturday’s games.