Notre Dame-Michigan On NBC Dominates Ratings For Opening Saturday Of College Football

NBC Sports' coverage of last night's primetime clash between the No. 12 Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the No. 14 Michigan Wolverines on NBC dominated the opening Saturday of college football, producing a 4.51 overnight rating which tied the best Notre Dame overnight rating on NBC in 12 years, according to data provided by The Nielsen Company.

The renewal of the iconic Notre Dame-Michigan rivalry last night at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Ind., on NBC, which the Fighting Irish won by a score of 24-17, easily won the day across college football. The 4.51 overnight rating for Notre Dame-Michigan was up 51% vs. the 2014 matchup on NBC between the two schools (9/6/14; 2.99), up 60% vs. last year's first primetime game vs. Georgia on NBC (9/9/17; 2.81), and tied the same matchup in 2010 as the best overnight rating for all Notre Dame on NBC broadcasts since Sept. 16, 2006 (Michigan, 4.90).

Locally, Columbus, Ohio, led all markets with a 16.2 rating. Following are the top 10 metered markets from last night's game on NBC:

Rank	Metered Market	Rating
1	Columbus	16.2
2	Detroit	15.4
3	Dayton	11.4
4	Indianapolis	9.9
5	Cleveland	7.4
6	Ft. Myers-Naples	6.9
7	Knoxville	6.8
8	New Orleans	6.5
9	Cincinnati	6.2
9	Greenville-Spartanburg	6.2
9	Norfolk	6.2

The 28th season of NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL on NBC continues next Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET when the Fighting Irish host the Ball State Cardinals.

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