Michigan Football Attracted Over 50 Million TV Viewers In 2019
The Michigan Wolverines' football program was the third most watched team in the nation throughout the 2019 regular-season, per the numbers that have been provided by SportsMediaWatch.com.
We italicized the 'numbers that have been provided' section above, because TV viewership ratings were not given for all 12 games for some of the nation's most watched teams.
For example, only 11 of Michigan's 12 contests had TV results provided, with the Sept. 28 win over Rutgers (which aired on Big Ten Network) being excluded.
On a similar note, only eight of LSU's and Clemson's (two of the nation's most-watched clubs) 12 showdowns had TV viewership ratings given.
Taking into account all of the statistics that were available, Michigan checked in as the nation's third most-watched team in 2019, attracting a total of 52.87 million viewers throughout 11 games (again, excluding the Rutgers affair).
The two squads who checked in with more were Alabama with 58.95 million watchers, and Ohio State with 54.15.
The former statistic includes 11 of the Crimson Tide's 12 games, while the latter only includes 10 of the Buckeyes' 12 contests.
Michigan saw seven of its 2019 games check in among the top-three most-watched contests of their respective weekends, which stood as more than any other team in the country.
Two of U-M's games were also the most-viewed affairs during the weekend they were played — the Ohio State clash on Nov. 30 and the Oct. 19 loss at Penn State.
Although the thriller with the Nittany Lions attracted 6.66 million viewers, Michigan's Oct. 26 beatdown of Notre Dame drew more with 6.75 million, though it slid in as the second most-watched game of its weekend (LSU's win over Auburn topped the list that Saturday with 7.18 million).
To further exemplify how impressive the Wolverines' TV viewership numbers were in 2019, consider this: Oklahoma and Notre Dame (two of college football's blue bloods) each finished with a better record than U-M (11-1 and 10-2, respectively), and yet the Maize and Blue drew at least 5.97 million more viewers than each of them (46.9 million for OU and 39.78 for the Irish).
Eleven games were registered for both Michigan and Notre Dame in the TV viewership department, and the Wolverines reeled in 13.09 million more watchers than the Irish did.
Last Saturday's Michigan/Ohio State Game was the Second Most-Watched Game of the 2019 College Football Season
Michigan's loss to Ohio State last Saturday drew in 12.42 million viewers on FOX, with only LSU's win at Alabama on CBS on Nov. 9 reeling in more (16.64 million).
This year's Michigan/Ohio State game featured a slight decline in viewership from last year's showdown in Columbus, though, which reeled in 13.20 million viewers.
With that being said, Saturday's clash was the third most-watched contest in the rivalry since the 2006 No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown, trailing only last season's affair and the 2016 double-overtime thriller (16.84 million) that resulted in a 30-27 OSU victory.
All five of the U-M/Ohio State tilts since head coach Jim Harbaugh arrived in 2015 have drawn at least 10.51 million eyeballs, compared to just 8.23 million in Brady Hoke's final season of 2014.
Furthermore, the annual rivalry clash averaged just 8.15 million watchers from 2009 through 2014, but has seen that average number increase to 12.74 since 2015 (Harbaugh's whole tenure).
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