Fox dominated ESPN on Friday

The first week of Fox College Football Friday put up some very strong numbers despite a blowout.

The second iteration improved substantially on that start and may have signaled that Fox’s ownership of Friday nights is only getting started.

Last Friday’s Big Ten showdown between the Illinois Fighting Illini and Nebraska Cornhuskers was a competitive contest that ended with a 31-24 Illinois victory in overtime. The Fox broadcast garnered 4.21 million viewers, which was up a whopping 63 percent from the previous week’s Arizona-Kansas State game (2.58 million).

The game, which peaked with 5.07 million viewers in the 11:15-11:30 p.m. ET quarter, was Fox’s most-watched Friday night programming since Game 1 of the 2023 World Series. Fox’s notation of how well Fox College Football Friday games have performed so far also continues to be a not-so-subtle shot at Smackdown , which WWE moved to USA Network last month.

“An exciting game that may have been overlooked on Saturday will likely end up being one of the five most-watched CFB games of the week. Exactly why we opened up Friday nights,” said Mike Mulvihill, Fox Sports’ president of insights and analytics, on X .

Along with putting up big numbers on its own, Fox’s broadcast continues to blow away ESPN’s Friday night programming as well. Their classic ACC showdown that night between Stanford and Syracuse averaged 1.37 million viewers .

Looking ahead, Fox’s Friday night slate has quite a few intriguing matchups. And as Illinois-Nebraska proved, if the game is good, it doesn’t need to be between two powerhouses to move the meter.

This week’s game, Washington at Rutgers, should be an interesting test. The Huskies (3-1) are coming off a run to the national title and Greg Schiano’s Scarlet Knights are 3-0 to start the season. They’ll be going head-to-head against Virginia Tech at No. 7 Miami on ESPN, which should make for a good barometer for just how much Fox can keep its ratings dominance going.

[ Sports Media Watch , Fox Sports PR ]

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