CBS scores with Alabama-LSU game

No. 1 Alabama’s victory over No. 5 LSU in a rematch of last year's BCS championship game delivered not just CBS’s best Saturday of the season but also one of the network’s highest-rated nights of the fall.

CBS drew a 3.7 adults 18-49 rating in primetime Saturday, according to Nielsen overnights, bettering the combined ratings of ABC, Fox, NBC, Univision and Telemundo for the night.

The game lasted well past 11 p.m. Because overnights measure only timeslot and not actual program data, those numbers are likely to rise when final data reflecting the post-primetime tune-in are released tomorrow.

But preliminary numbers suggest a big crowd. The game peaked with a 4.3 rating at 10 p.m.

The other networks struggled against such dominant competition.

CBS finished first with the 3.7 rating and 11 share. Fox was second with a 1.0/3, ABC third with a 0.7/2, NBC and Univision tied for fourth with a 0.6/2 apiece, and Telemundo sixth with a 0.4/2.

CBS won every hour, starting with a 3.4 at 8 p.m. for the first hour of its SEC matchup. Fox was second with a 1.0 for its own college football matchup, followed by ABC’s “Saturday Night Football” and NBC’s final hour of the Notre Dame-Pittsburgh game tied with a 0.7 apiece. Univision’s “Sabado Gigante” finished fifth with a 0.5, and Telemundo was sixth with a 0.4.

CBS lengthened its lead at 9 p.m. with a 3.7. Fox’s football remained second with a 1.0, followed by ABC’s football and Univision’s “Sabado” tied for third with a 0.7 apiece. NBC’s movie “Rudy” was fifth with a 0.5 and Telemundo was sixth with a 0.4.

At 10 p.m. CBS’s football game was again first with a 3.9, followed by NBC’s movie and ABC’s football tied for second with a 0.7 apiece. Univision’s “Sabado” was fourth with a 0.6, and Telemundo was sixth with a 0.5.

Among households CBS led with a 6.2/10, followed by ABC and Fox tied for second with a 1.9/3 apiece. NBC was fourth with a 1.7/3, Univision fifth with a 1.0/2 and Telemundo sixth with a 0.5/1.
 

Tags: abc, alabama lsu, bcs, cbs, college football, fox, LSU, lsu alabama, nbc, Notre Dame Pittsburgh, overnight ratings, overnights, primetime, saturday overnights, SEC, sports tv