This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
According to CBS, Saturday's LSU-Alabama showdown was the most-watched regular-season college football game on the network in 22 years. It averaged 20 million viewers, up 161 percent from last year's Tigers-Tide showdown.
It's a definite possibility that several million of those viewers had passed out in front of their TVs, put to sleep by the "excitement" of a 9-6 game that featured a grand total of zero touchdowns.
I kid, I kid. But this was a game that was exciting because it was close, not because it was exciting.
Anyway, here's CBS' excited release:
CBS Sports' coverage of the SEC ON CBS on Saturday, Nov. 5 (6-9:39 p.m. MT), which saw No. 1-LSU beat No. 2-Alabama, averaged 20.011 million viewers (Persons 2+). Saturday night's game was the most-watched regular-season game on CBS Sports in 22 years (22.495 million; Notre Dame-Miami; 11/25/1989).
The game earned an average fast-national household rating/share of 11.5/20, up 161 percent from last year's 4.4/10 (No. 5-Alabama vs. No.12-LSU; 1:30-5:09 PM, MT; 11/6/10). The game also was up 150 percent from CBS Sports' SEC prime-time game on October 1, 2011 featuring then-No. 3 Alabama at No. 12 Florida, which earned a 4.6/8.
Saturday night's game viewership and HH rating/share peaked at 24.305 million viewers and 14.3/26, respectively, from 9:30-9:39 p.m. MT.