One of the biggest stories in the sports world for the past year has been the NFL’s declining viewership. While far less publicized, the college game has not been immune to that same problem.
The four networks that took a hit were CBS (down 10%), ABC (down 18%), NBC (down 3%), and ESPN (down 6%). The addition of the Big Ten helped the Fox networks, as Fox saw a whopping 23% increase in viewership, and sister-station FS1 was up 4%.
The discussion around streaming and cord-cutting has been happening for a few years now. While standard cable is still the primary vehicle fans use to watch games, streaming has recently taken a progressively bigger slice of the pie.