Irrelevant? | by Jay
You probably saw this earlier today, but in case you didn't...
Per UND.com, who seems to have a newfound (and very welcome) sense of self-promotion:
Irish Remain College Football's Top Draw On Television
As my grandfather-in-law once said, "He who tooteth not his own horn, often finds his horn not tooted."
Six Notre Dame games among 25 highest-rated network contests in 2004.
Jan. 5, 2005
NOTRE DAME, Ind. - The University of Notre Dame football team in 2004 once again received more network television exposure and played in more highly-rated games than any other program in college football.
Notre Dame played in the highest-rated network game of the 2004 regular season (and the highest rated regular-season game overall in two seasons) in its '04 regular-season finale at USC. That game, televised by ABC Sports, received a 6.3 Nielsen rating and was seen in 6.898 million households, making it the most-watched nationally broadcast regular-season college football game on network television in '04, according to figures in the Dec.27, 2004-Jan. 2, 2005 issue of Street & Smith's SportsBusiness Journal.
Overall, Notre Dame played in six games that ranked among the top 25 highest-rated network telecasts - and no other school played in more than five (Tennessee and Georgia each played in five). Here are the other five games involving Notre Dame:
• Notre Dame's victory over Michigan on Sept. 11 on NBC Sports ranked ninth with a 4.0 Nielsen rating (4.384 million households).
• Notre Dame's victory at Tennessee on Nov. 6 on CBS Sports earned a 3.4 (3.75 million) and ranked 11th.
• The Oct. 2 Notre Dame-Purdue game on NBC received a 2.5 rating (2.719 million) and ranked 22nd.
• The Nov. 13 Notre Dame-Pittsburgh game on NBC received a 2.4 (2.578 million) and ranked 24th.
• Notre Dame's Sept. 25 victory over Washington on NBC earned a 2.3 (2.518 million) and ranked 25th.
Meanwhile, Notre Dame played twice during the '04 regular season on ESPN -- and both those telecasts rated among the top 14 most-watched regular-season college football games on cable television this past year.
The Sept. 18 Notre Dame victory at Michigan State in prime time on ESPN earned a 2.6 coverage area rating (2.326 million households) and ranked ninth among games on cable. The Irish season opener Sept. 4 at BYU received a 2.5 rating (2.197 million) and ranked 14th.
Once again in 2004, Notre Dame was the only school in the country to have all 11 of its regular-season games carried by either NBC (six), CBS (two), ABC (one) or ESPN (two).
Including the Insight Bowl carried on ESPN, Notre Dame now has a remarkable streak of 148 consecutive games (more than 12 full seasons) that have been carried by either NBC (80), ABC (42), CBS (14) or ESPN (12). You have to go all the way back to the 1992 season to find a Notre Dame football games that was not shown by either NBC, ABC, CBS or ESPN.
