The Ohio football team handed Temple its fourth loss of the season last Wednesday in front of a packed Ozone student section. The students could have stayed warm, watching the game with the rest of the country, though. Nearly 1.4 million Americans tuned in to ESPN’s telecast from Peden Stadium.
ESPN reported that the Mid-American Conference bout gathered a 1.1 rating, a 17 percent drop from last year’s comparable time slot, where an opening week NBA game between Chicago and Oklahoma City drew a 1.2 rating and nearly 1.7 million viewers.
An NBA matchup between the Miami Heat and New York Knicks was originally slated to be televised during the Bobcats’ national appearance, but Ohio got a shot on the ESPN stage because of the NBA lockout.
Ohio’s last national television appearance, last January’s New Orleans Bowl, captured a slightly larger audience with a 1.53 rating despite the game’s attendance being below 30,000.
The bowl game was the least watched of any that included a MAC competitor. Miami vs. Middle Tennessee notched a slightly higher rating of a 1.63.
