Oct. 8, 2002
EVANSTON, Ill. -- The Oct. 5 Ohio State at Northwestern game, televised by ESPN2 and viewed in 1.414 million homes, was the 'most watched' Big Ten regular-season football game ever broadcast by ESPN2. The previous best of 1.402 million homes was set during an ESPN2 cablecast of the 1999 Minnesota at Penn State game. In terms of Male 18-34 demographics, the OSU-NU game was ESPN2's highest rated and most viewed college football game ever on Saturday night.
The Ohio State at Northwestern game is the fourth highest rated Big Ten game on ESPN2 (1.67), trailing only the 1999 Minnesota at Penn State (2.10), 1994 Rutgers at Penn State (2.00) and 1996 Michigan at Purdue (1.81) games. Four of the top 20 'most watched' Big Ten football games on ESPN2 have been set this year.