NCAAF ratings

CBS led all nets broadcasting college football this season with a 4.2 rating and 6.9 million viewers for its package of SEC games. The net this season topped ABC's college football broadcasts for only the second time since '90. However, CBS' figures are down 4.5% from the net's record-setting numbers last season, when CBS earned its best ratings for SEC games since the net began re-airing college football in '96. ABC averaged a 3.5 rating for its 30 college football telecasts this season, which was down just over 10% from last year. The net saw ratings decline for both its Saturday 3:30pm ET games (-0.9%) and for its Saturday primetime games (-9.5%). NBC averaged a 2.1 rating and 3.1 million viewers for its eight Notre Dame football telecasts this season, down 12.5% and 15.0%, respectively, from last year.

CABLE TOWNS: ESPN averaged a 1.9 U.S. rating and 2.966 million viewers for its 75 college football telecasts. While the net's rating was flat with '09, the viewership level marks the net's most-watched season since '94. The net also saw a slight increase in audience for its 14 "College GameDay" telecasts, up 1.4% in viewership from '09. ESPN2's 56 telecasts averaged a 0.9 rating and 1.416 million viewers, down 10% compared to '09. Versus saw gains in ratings and viewership this season, which included a mix of Pac-10, Mountain West and Ivy League telecasts. The net's telecasts in '09 last season also included games from the Big 12. Versus was buoyed by the Nov. 13 Oregon-Cal matchup, which marked the net's most-viewed college football game ever. The net averaged 692,000 viewers for its seven Pac-10 telecasts (+46.3%) and 331,000 viewers for its eight Mountain West games (+56.9%).

WINDOW WATCHING: ESPN's Saturday primetime window was the net's most-watched college football window this season, averaging a 2.5 U.S. rating and 4.1 million viewers. The net saw strong numbers early in the season for the window, with Penn State-Alabama and Ohio State-Wisconsin both earning just over 7 million viewers each. The net's 12:00pm ET telecasts were flat in ratings with '09, with a slight increase in viewers. Thursday primetime telecasts saw a sharp drop from last season, when four telecasts topped the 4 million-viewers mark. This season, only the Texas A&M-Texas game on Thanksgiving topped that mark.

BIG GAMES: The Nov. 26 Auburn-Alabama game on CBS was this season's most-viewed telecast on any network, earning a 7.3 rating and 12.5 million viewers. Among the top 10 most-viewed games, six were on CBS. The most-viewed cable broadcast was ESPN's Labor Day night Boise State-Virginia Tech game. That marked the net's second-best audience ever for a college football game behind last season's USC-Ohio State telecast. ESPN also saw its best "College GameDay" audience from the campus of Oklahoma State for its Nov. 27 matchup against Oklahoma (2.4 million viewers). NBC's top telecast was the Sept. 11 Michigan-Notre Dame matchup, which earned a 4.5 rating and 6.97 million viewers. ESPN2 also saw its most-viewed telecast on Sept. 11, earning a 2.2 rating and 3.5 million viewers for Georgia-South Carolina.