Saw they got a 2.1 for the game....

matches the UNC/USC game on ESPN(5th best opening Thursday night game ever for ESPN), and was 0.2 better than Minnesota/TCU

Think that is very important for Fox to show Big 10 that they can draw a good number.

Works the other way, too: The Big Ten can say, look at the audience you got with Michigan on FS1, so you should pay us a hefty price and get that kind of audience on FS1 regularly.

Also, Fox gave this game heavy advance promotion, so maybe they'll see this rating and finally realize that properly promoting your telecasts leads to better ratings.

I think it was more important on the Fox side to show they could deliver such a good number. They had to deliver a good number or else Big Ten would have hesitated big time. I think now the Big Ten would look at games on FS1 and not cringe anywhere near as much as before....

the thing that is a shame for FS1 now is they don't have another good game to compliment. I mean what do they have this weekend? Miss St/Southern Miss and Purdue/Marshall. They aren't going to be able to strike while the iron is hot.

Everybody tuned in to watch Jim Harbaugh lose his first game at Michigan. What else is new?

What can you say? Jake Rudock just has that star factor that draws fans in.

I love Michigan but I hate Harbaugh. Glad to see the PAC 12 win one against a fellow P5. PAC 12 is going to be great this year.

is it me, or is the relationship between the Pac 12 and Fox fairly frosty. I saw that Utah(probably at the Pac 12's behest) banned Fox's Harbus from the campus last night.

(09-04-2015 11:37 AM)stever20 Wrote:  is it me, or is the relationship between the Pac 12 and Fox fairly frosty. I saw that Utah(probably at the Pac 12's behest) banned Fox's Harbus from the campus last night.

It was bad the first year. Fox was pretty high-handed at first, whereas ESPN treats colleges more like business partners. There was one incident the first year where Fox tried to switch the UCLA-Stanford game time and channel (from Fox broadcast to FS1) at the last minute and the teams flat-out refused; the impasse was solved by ESPN agreeing to air the game at its original start time. But, Fox's approach has gotten better since then.

Looks like Utah's (correct) decision to keep the Harbus circus off of its campus was their decision, no Pac-12 involvement. http://www.sltrib.com/home/2909897-155/u...-harbus-to

They have kicked off the season with Thursday night games for a while now and every year the ratings do very well across the board. The reason for this is because CFB fans are so hungry to watch live action.

Fox definitely got a bump with it being Harbaugh's first game at Michigan. I am guessing if Hoke was still there they might have been a whole point lower.

(09-04-2015 12:45 PM)CliftonAve Wrote:  They have kicked off the season with Thursday night games for a while now and every year the ratings do very well across the board. The reason for this is because CFB fans are so hungry to watch live action.

Fox definitely got a bump with it being Harbaugh's first game at Michigan. I am guessing if Hoke was still there they might have been a whole point lower.

Also, no NFL game on Thursday. This is the one shot on Thursday that CFB has to get good ratings on that night. Otherwise, NFL trumps all on Thursday night.

yeah no NFL helps out a lot.

Fox really made a mistake though not having a 2nd even decent game this weekend.

(09-04-2015 02:46 PM)stever20 Wrote:  yeah no NFL helps out a lot.

Fox really made a mistake though not having a 2nd even decent game this weekend.

Do you think there was something Fox could do? I think they are pretty much at the mercy of the existing schedule. Plus Alabama-Wisconsin and ND-Texas are going to be almost unbeatable on Saturday - there isn't much chance of beating those games.

(09-04-2015 03:09 PM)Section 200 Wrote:  

(09-04-2015 02:46 PM)stever20 Wrote:  yeah no NFL helps out a lot.

Fox really made a mistake though not having a 2nd even decent game this weekend.

Do you think there was something Fox could do? I think they are pretty much at the mercy of the existing schedule. Plus Alabama-Wisconsin and ND-Texas are going to be almost unbeatable on Saturday - there isn't much chance of beating those games.

What is sad is you are right. It's what happens when:
Big 12- of the 10 teams, 4 plays FCS teams, 4 are on the road- and the other 2 home games- Akron @ Oklahoma, Georgia Southern @ West Virginia
Pac 12- of the 12 teams, 4 play FCS teams, 3 are on the road 1 neutral site- and then you have UTSA @ Arizona, Virginia @ UCLA, Arkansas St @ USC.

I would have tried to have Virginia @ UCLA be on FS1 and have a MLB dh this weekend.

Fox Sports coming around, some folks will need to munch some crow if BE hoops numbers climb as well this winter...

yeah the hoops for the Big East will be interesting to see. The difference between this year and last is that FS1 has had some good ratings for other stuff- so the excuse that it's all because of FS1 is gone this year.

Not really all that surprising. Big football brand against another decent power 5 school. People tune in to watch games with big brands against good competition. Some people even tune to watch big brands against drek as proven with the success of conference networks.

(09-04-2015 12:45 PM)CliftonAve Wrote:  They have kicked off the season with Thursday night games for a while now and every year the ratings do very well across the board. The reason for this is because CFB fans are so hungry to watch live action.

Fox definitely got a bump with it being Harbaugh's first game at Michigan. I am guessing if Hoke was still there they might have been a whole point lower.

agree 100%....

I watched some of Utah Michigan....only because it was REAL college football...FINALLY. On a normal Saturday during the season, this isn't a game I would have watched....at all unless it was like #1 vs #2 or something like that.

(09-04-2015 11:15 AM)goofus Wrote:  What can you say? Jake Rudock just has that star factor that draws fans in.

No, Jake Butt has the star factor that draws fans in.

So . . . Big East hoops has no excuse.