Georgia Tech-Georgia game registered nearly 9 million viewers

Georgia Tech had its biggest TV audience of the season during its 16-9 loss to rival Georgia on Nov. 28.

The Yellow Jackets and Bulldogs played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in front of a TV audience of 8.7 million viewers, ESPN announced Thursday. That number more than doubled Tech’s previous viewership high this season.

The matchup had a 3:30 p.m. kickoff. Viewership peaked at 11.3 million, and the contest was one of six most-watched games of the weekend.

Seven of Tech’s 11 games this season were televised by an ESPN network, with the Georgia matchup on ABC. The reported numbers for those eight contests have given Tech an average of 3.125 million viewers and a total of 25 million.

Viewership numbers for Tech’s games against Gardner-Webb (ACC Network Extra), Temple (The CW), Virginia Tech (ACC Network) and Boston College (ACC Network) have not been made available publicly.

On Nov. 22, According to ESPN, 2 million viewers tuned in to watch Tech lose 42-28 to Pittsburgh at Bobby Dodd Stadium.

On Nov. 1, 604,000 viewers tuned in to see North Carolina State beat Tech, then ranked No. 8 and undefeated. That number made Tech-NC State the seventh highest-watched Saturday game on ESPN2 at the time and the highest since Oct. 11.

On Oct. 25, ESPN reported that 1.3 million viewers tuned in to watch Tech beat Syracuse 41-16. On Sept. 27, ESPN reported 1.9 million viewers saw the Jackets knock off Wake Forest 30-29 in overtime. That matchup was the 10th most-viewed college football game of that day.

On Sept. 13, ESPN reported 4.8 million viewers watched Tech beat Clemson at Bobby Dodd Stadium, a game televised by ESPN. The Jackets won on a 55-yard field goal by Aidan Birr as time expired.

On Aug. 29, ESPN reported 3.7 million viewers tuned in to Tech’s game at Colorado, a game also televised by ESPN. The Jackets won that contest 27-20 after quarterback Haynes King’s 45-yard touchdown run with a little more than a minute left in the fourth quarter.

The viewership measurements are based on Nielsen’s Big Data + Panel methodology, combining Nielsen’s panel measurement with data from cable, satellite set-top boxes and smart televisions across 45 million households and 75 million devices.

The large TV audience this season is positive news for Tech as it relates to the ACC’s revenue-distribution model, which is based on viewership. The incentive-based model gives member schools the opportunity to earn increased viewership distributions from the ACC’s media revenues.